


Ella, An origin story

by Velobill



Category: Vampirella (Comics)
Genre: 1969, Alternate Origin Story, Dying planet, Gen, psychiatric hospital
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-13
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:02:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 27,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22688929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Velobill/pseuds/Velobill
Summary: Ella's world is dying. While searching for food she finds a 'portal' which sends her to Earth 1969.
Relationships: Sisters - Relationship, doctor patient
Kudos: 2





	1. Trap

**Author's Note:**

> NOTE: This story takes place in 1969 and the language used by some of the characters, especially the doctors can be offensive. The use of electric shock, as described in one chapter is not Electro-Convulsive Therapy (ECT). But, the treatment is based on an inhumane practice used on people with developmental disabilities who exhibit self injurious behaviors. Thankfully this "treatment" is no longer acceptable. 
> 
> Vampirella was my transition from the comics of my youth to "Skiffy" and adolescence. As I found her origin stories lacking, I decided to try my hand at writing my own tale. This is not the Warren comic's Vampirella nor is it Harris Comic's or Dynamite's. I offer instead for your approval (or not) a Vampirella who is not much older than I was when I discovered her in 1970. Like my Batman story "A Walk In the Park, Gotham" and Zombie story your comments and suggestions are more than welcome. All in all I hope you enjoy my effort and the worlds I've created. My next fan fiction will be based on one of my favorite TV shows, "Midsomer Murders"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A young girl finds a light at the end of a tunnel

Ella slowly ascended into the night sky until she was a tiny speck among the stars. Below her, twin full moons had painted purple divergent shadows on the parched earth in what was once a forest. Despite the great height she could see the slightest movement among the labyrinth of twisted trunks. But, nothing stirred and as the young hunter flew on she invoked a silent prayer to Lilith for luck in finding quarry large enough to provide sustenance.

Ella lived at the end of her world. She was born long after the sun became a swollen red orb in a cloudless amber sky. She was born long after it scorched the earth, silenced rivers and turned seas into salty mud puddles. The world Ella and her sisters knew; the world their mother knew and the world of generations before them was an ever shifting desert of towering dunes and great stony plains crisscrossed by the skeletons of hills and mountains. Ella’s world was a realm of desolation where all too few survivors huddled among ruined cities or wandered aimlessly searching for their final meal.

But, Lilith blessed Ella. Her subterranean village was protected from the sun’s incessant heat and its deep wells gave enough water to grow the feed they needed to keep livestock. The village was a safe place for a child and Ella had fond memories of life with her mother, twin sisters and their neighbors.

When Ella was little an elder gave her a book. The ancient device showed a forgotten time when the world was green; when there were forests and fields and clear rippling streams of water. It was a time when rain and white snow fell from the skies to feed meandering rivers; rivers that birthed lakes and endless oceans. It was a time when there were endless prairies of waving grass and great herds. It was a time of plenty. 

In that long ago time, the glass cities of Ella’s people competed with the clouds and their lights outshone the sun and stars. But, despite such a heritage, Ella’s family and neighbors had no use for the past and she was alone in wanting to know what was once. Ever curious, she found more books discarded among the village midden and nearby ruins. The books that worked showed the young girl a marvelous past and taught her the archaic art of reading. Ella’s quick mind devoured their contents with the same enthusiasm as she learned how to hunt from her mother. 

Ella discovered how in that long forgotten time, scientists pronounced Cassandrian warnings on how their sun was dying and to survive they would have to leave the world. True to their prophecies, the sun swelled, clouds disappeared, rain and snow ceased to fall. The ground baked and plants withered. When the plants died so did the animals. Without animals there was no sustenance. Without sustenance civilization tumbled. What people remained hunted any prey and it came to pass that even male born babes were taken for what little they could provide. 

Shortly after Ella’s mother died, the village wells went dry. Ella, her sisters and the other villagers were cast into the wasteland. Many could not cope and soon died of starvation or from predation by their friends. Ella and her sisters having been taught well by their mother stayed strong. The three were an efficient pack and ranged far to survive on what meager sustenance they found. One night, Lilith’s good roll brought them to a cave near a dry wash. 

The wash was once a river fed by melting ice from a nearby mountain range. Its towering peaks continued to sweep what little moisture was left in the air to create a rare storm. The rain that didn’t evaporate fed the wash and left a transient pool not far from the sister’s cave. The water slaked their thirst and attracted prey. For a time they had enough sustenance for hope. But the reprieve was short. There came a time when prey stopped coming to the pool and there came a time when the ephemeral floods stopped all together. The three siblings found it harder to find prey and when Ella’s sister Nuphe died, Ella and Echo honored her as they drank from her.

On this night, when Ella woke Echo for the hunt, her sister’s skin felt cold and clammy. Ella too had a chill which accompanied her aching joints and had not felt hungry for several nights. But Ella knew she was stronger than her sister. She was much younger than Echo, too young even to have chosen her own name and she had always been taken care of by her mother and sisters. Ella was special. She was the last born child of the village; she was perhaps the last daughter of Lilith born in the world.

“Ella, I’m a bit tired. I’m going to sleep in for a while. I promise I’ll join you later.” Echo slowly said as she fell back on her sleeping mat. 

“Please get up. You’ll feel better once we start. You know you can do it,” Ella pleaded. But, Echo had already closed her eyes. 

“Echo, I can’t stay, I must hunt. I promise you I’ll bag us a nice fat goat or better yet, a fat man.” 

Echo smiled softly at Ella and as the young hunter left the cave to lift herself into the sky, she was scared it was her sister’s last smile.

Soaring helped Ella conserve her strength and she soon found thermals to rise on from where stone or ruin held the day’s blazing heat. Using an occasional slow thrust of her wings she traced ever increasing circles during her long night’s foray. Ella was exhausted and she didn’t know how long she could keep flying. Ella couldn’t give up, she need to feed, her sister need to feed and when the smallest of the moons settled below the horizon she invoked Lilith to help find prey. But, when the edge of horizon signaled the approach of another day Ella realized she had to turn back to avoid being caught by the sun.

Suddenly, Ella spied a movement in the shadows. She marked the spot and began her slow spiral downwards for a closer look. As she did, she took care to avoid passing in front of the remaining moon. There was another flicker of motion and Ella recognized it as a man. A man, who had been trying to stay in the shadows with erratic hesitant steps. Ella licked her parched lips anticipating his salty taste and dove at him like a bolt sprung from a bow. The man saw her. He ran desperately to reach a ruined building half buried in a sandy dune. But his effort was futile. Ella dropped in front of him on silent wings. Her rag dressed quarry stopped and stared stupidly at the naked winged hunter. He was old perhaps forty and thinned by famine. But, he wasn’t ready to die and he stood his ground. He produced a revolver from a threadbare shoulder satchel and pointed it at Ella with trembling hands. 

“Get away from me Demon, get away from me” he shouted in a hoarse voice as he pulled the firearm’s trigger at her heart. There was a puff of smoke. The weapon firearm misfired and Ella was on him. In an instant she twisted his chin up and drove her fangs into a throbbing vein where his life instantly filled her mouth. Ella carried a catch bag wrapped around her waist and had her hunger greed not been so overpowering she would have taken only enough sustenance to give strength before plunging the bag’s needle into an artery. However, Ella was a beast. She thought only of slaking her thirst and she consumed the man before she remembered the bag. He was dead by the time she drove its needle deep into his chest. It was useless, he could give no more. She shamefully released the corpse and with a single tear glittering on her cheek from the dim golden moonlight she sighed in despair. Her despair led to anger and she stared up at the fading stars cursing herself. The only way she could make things right was to return to Echo and open her own artery.

Ella had snapped her wings open preparing to fly when she felt a brush of air against her back. She spun on her heels and traced the wisp to a pit inside the ruin the man had been running towards. The young hunter peered into the rubble’s shadows and saw steps leading into the earth.

“Perhaps, there were more men hiding below.” Ella thought and she would triumphantly bring their sustenance to Echo. If there were more than one, she could try to hold them the way her mother and sisters would, then she could bring Echo back for a feast. She reasoned too that if her hopes turned out to be false, she could rest from the sun and search for more prey at nightfall on her return.

Ella knelt over the dead man and went through his effects. The revolver was useless, it had been uncared for too long. Inside the satchel she found roots, food for men, but inedible to Ella and her sister. There was a battered solar torch an ancient device which to her amazement still worked. A hunting knife was the last item in the bag that despite being dingy and unsheathed was in excellent condition. Ella pulled her own knife from the sheath strapped to her calf and compared it with the man’s. They were about the same length. But, her knife was forged by the village smith and although it was well cared for the blade was nowhere near as fine as the knife the man carried. It, like the torch was an artifact of her people’s long dead technology and she slipped it into her sheath. Then Ella laid her own knife on the corpse and re-wrapped the hunting bag around her waist. With purposeful steps, she strode into the wrecked edifice asking Lilith for a lucky roll as she did. 

Using the torch to augment her sight in the stygian blackness Ella silently descended the stairs. She gingerly stepped around assorted debris to avoid damaging her laced sandals which were made generations before she was born. After a time, the stairs began to spiral downwards until the young hunter had gone deeper into the earth than the lowest level of her village. As she went on, the air grew somewhat cooler and the walls of smooth stone give way to ceramic tile. 

“This place was built long before the Draught, and it’s cool enough to be a good hiding place.” Ella thought. She was confident she would find quarry in the dark. Animal or man, it didn’t matter their sustenance would give Ella and Echo life. When gyring steps straightened out, they seemed to continue unabated beyond her torches’ reach. To scry what was beyond her sight, Ella sporadically clicked her tongue at the back of her throat and listened. Echoes told her she was almost at bottom of the steps and not wanting to startle any creature lurking in the blackness, Ella turned off the torch. She didn’t need its light to find prey and she anticipating filling her bag and proudly returning to her sister. She imagined returning together and harvesting whatever else might be hiding in the darkness. The promise of a shared feast with Echo gave Ella hope and the accompanying surge of excitement gave her strength.

The steps gave way to a level floor and Ella sensed she was in an immense space. She crouched and listened for movement and she peered into the pitch searching for body glow. But, the space was deserted. The only sound she heard was a faint draft of air. Frustrated Ella flicked on the torch and slowly cast its dim light about. She saw in the deep gloom scattered heaps of wood and ash where fires once burned. Dislocated animal and human bones were haphazardly scattered about. She walked to the nearest pile of jumbled bones and picked up the remains a man’s thigh bone. Using the dim light of her torch she noticed small cuts on its surface which confirmed Ella’s suspicion that men were last inhabitants of the great underground hall.

Ella’s heart sank. She would find no sustenance to redeem herself with her sister as it was coincidence the man had been heading towards the ruin. Her search, like the hunt had been of no use and a waste of what little time that still remained. Ella did not know how much time had passed since she entered the ruin. She assumed it was probably mid-morning and her return to the surface would put her at mercilessness of the blazing sun. The draft she still felt attracted her attention. Perhaps it came from an underground body of water which would be almost as welcome as prey. Regardless, the cavern was a better place stay than the cramped bower she had been sharing with her sisters.

Ella decided she would follow the wafting air and she pointed the torch in the direction of its source. The torch’s feeble light was barely strong enough to help her avoid stepping on bones or other debris and it didn’t take long for Ella to find the draft’s source. The cooler wafting air originated from a small room along one wall. The inquisitive young hunter stepped into the alcove to look for the breeze’s source. As she did, the floor gave way.

Ella gave a short gasp of alarm and snapped her wings open. They slowed her fall. But, the space was too confined for her to fly and she landed heavily on her right ankle. Furious and hurt, Ella spat on the ground at her stupidity for wandering into such a trap. If she didn’t find a way, her sister would never learn what happened to her and they would die alone with Echo believing Ella abandoned her. 

Ignoring her ankle’s throbbing pain, Ella used the torch’s dim light flickering light to look about the pit.

“This isn’t a trap, there’s a metal framework lining the walls going all the way back up,” Ella murmured to herself.

“This must be an ancient elevator shaft like the buildings in my books. It might take me all day, but I know can climb even with my ankle.”

Ella also noticed one of the walls had a closed metal doorway. Curious, she decided she would find out what was on the other side before she started her long climb. The young girl examined the barrier with the torch. Unlike the hinged doors of her village the door was made of two smooth metal panels pressed together with a thin almost imperceptible slit running downwards between them. Ella pressed against the barrier. It did not move. She took her knife and was grateful its thin blade slipped through the crack. Ella gave the knife a hard twist and opened enough space for her fingertips to slip through. She pried against the metal. At first nothing moved. Then with a heave that made her arms feel like they were going to burst, there was a creak and panels slowly parted until there enough space for her to slide through.

Blinding electric light suddenly surrounded Ella She squinted to adjust her eyes and found she was in the middle of a long corridor lit by glowing white walls. Across from the doorway there was a sign with arrows pointing either left or right. Ella recognized the letters but was puzzled by their meanings as they senselessly spelled out “ACCS” “EXCOM” “MMM” and other letter jumbles. She assumed they were destinations and decided to head in the direction indicated by the most arrows. After Ella slipped the knife back into its sheath she carefully hobbled down the hall walking past closed metallic doors and through several intersections. Eventually she came to the corridor’s terminus where another pair of panels unexpectedly slid open with her approach.

Ella walked into a large round room festooned with flashing lights and glowing screens. In the middle was low round dais on which stood a shimmering translucent golden haired woman which Ella knew from her books was a laser hologram. The image looked down at Ella. 

“Hello, young one. Do not be frightened... Who are you?” asked a soft voice that seemed to come from everywhere at once.

“I’m Ella. Who were you?”

“I was made in the image of Janus Chrysothemis Imperial scientist and director of this ‘Portal’”

“Portal, is that what this place is called?”

“No daughter of Lilith. This is the laboratory where the Portal was built. The Portal was a way for people to leave our world. But, that was long before the Water Wars.”

“I never heard of the Water Wars.” 

“I sense it was long before your time young one.”

“How long ago was that, Janus Chrysothemis?” 

“That is a good question. Let me check.” The voice paused, “I find I still have working sensors on the surface.” The voice paused again and woman looked serenely at her visitor.

“I believe I have not been activated in over four hundred years. I cannot fully tell the state of the world as it is. I find no satellites in the sky. I find no land stations either and the sun’s static is too great for me to hear any signals if there are any. Tell me Ella, how do the people fare?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t seen anyone in a long time. For all I know my sister and I are the last people left.” 

“I am sorry for you young one that you were born in this time.”

“I don’t feel sorry. It is the life I know. Besides, didn’t Lilith tell our ancestors “To not fear Death as it is the greatest adventure”?”

“It is good you know scripture.”

“I know a few words. But, books are scarce and faith has been forgotten. The people in my village didn’t want to know about the past especially when there is no green left in the world.”

“Would you like to see green young one?”

Ella answered the question before she gave it thought.

“Yes, before I die, I want to see green. I want to feel rain and I want to walk in snow”

“Then you will have your wish Ella. I have enough power to make it so for you.”

The hologram vanished and a loud humming replaced the woman’s voice. Suddenly Ella found herself engulfed by a ball of pulsating light. 

-30-


	2. Arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's 1969 and Dr. Eva Van Helsing meets her new patient for the first time.

Doctor Eva Van Helsing, MD followed Hospital Superintendent Doctor Floyd Ackerman, MD and two orderlies down several flights of well-worn steps. The anonymous aides, dressed in identical white short sleeved button down shirts and white pants with rings of jangling key rings on thin black belts walked in deferential silence ahead of the two psychiatrists until they arrived at the stairway’s final landing where a closed battleship grey metal door blocked further progress. 

Van Helsing had never before been to the Secure Isolation Unit or the “Sue” as it was called, even though she spent a year at the venerable psychiatric hospital doing her residency in wards of shuffling pajama and robe wearing patients. The only time she visited the century old “Hall for the Criminally Insane” was a hurried orientation tour Van Helsing and other new “Docs” were given upon arriving at the hospital. Her brief excursion did not include the basement or the Sue. But, the short visit through the Hall’s crowded wards and dingy nicotine stained day rooms where patient inmates watched flickering black and white televisions as they waited for meds and meals left a lasting impression of dread on the young doctor. 

Perched high on a bluff the “Hall” as it was called overlooked a meandering New England river and was the most imposing structure in the Hospital’s complex of large buildings nestled in a campus of manicured lawns and walkways lined by mature hardwoods. It wasn’t the largest edifice that distinction went to “Barnum” the hospital’s administrative building named after a long dead politician who championed a “General Hospital for the Insane”. The masonry Romanesque styled Barnum with its towers and rounded arches was built a dozen years before the Hall and was an early Kirkbride institution where patients moved from its outer wings to inner ones as they recovered. But, most of Barnum had been abandoned when new buildings were built during the depression and the years following the Second World War. However, the Hall with its stained brownstone Second Empire Baroque gables, narrow windows and massive height was overcrowded and built to intimidate patient and staff alike. Even though Van Helsing was a seasoned prison physician, when she pulled her lemon colored “Bug” into a “Doctor’s Only” parking space under an ancient oak tree’s burgundy foliage, she felt the same unease as she had during her previous visit. The feeling grew ever more oppressive as she passed through locked doors and descended to the building’s basement. Like the Hall’s denizens, Van Helsing knew once the iron doors clanged shut behind her the outside was no longer within reach. 

Ackerman curtly directed one of the attendants to unlock the door and Van Helsing watched him fumble with a massive ring of jangling keys. As she did, she recalled the previous Friday’s phone call. 

“Doctor Van Helsing, you have been assigned by the Court to certify whether the defendant can or can’t be made ready for trial. Do you understand?” asked Defense Attorney Warren. Van Helsing barely got out an affirmative when he continued to tell her how arrangements were made for her immediate transfer from her assignment at the State’s woman’s prison to the Hospital where she was to report to Doctor Ackerman Monday sharply at ten. Other than those brief instructions, the attorney did not mention why Van Helsing, had been given the “Vampire Girl” case. 

“Vampire Girl” was the name more sensational reporters gave to a young teenager who was accused of killing a police officer after being found naked in a cave not far from a quiet single traffic light village of farms. The officer’s death and her capture made headlines and was the lead story of television network news and radio broadcasts for days. It even made it to the front page of the second section in the “newspaper of record” Van Helsing read every morning at the diner where she grabbed her coffee and breakfast. The early stories about the girl and her capture were conservative reports which mentioned the officer’s death was accidental. But, a salacious article in a popular supermarket tabloid reported the girl bit open the cop’s neck and he bled to death. Van Helsing saw the headlines while she waited in line to pay for groceries and knew there was some truth to it. 

Weeks before she received the attorney’s phone call, she was interrupted while she was having coffee by an exceptionally braggadocios colleague, a fellow physician who loved to talk about his hunting experiences when he wasn’t hitting on the nurses or giving pelvic examinations and prescribing sedatives to inmates with “female problems”. Even though he preferred newly hired nurses or young prison matrons, he occasionally turned his attention on Van Helsing. He ignored and smiled at her rebuffs and even her wedding band wasn’t a barrier as he proudly said he was in an “open marriage”. Once when they were walking to their cars he combined his salaciousness with his self-proclaimed hunting prowess. 

“I caught a grizz on my Alaska trip and you are welcome to lay on its pelt anytime you want. It’s big enough for two and comfy in front my den’s fireplace” 

One morning, the lecherous colleague sat down next to Van Helsing in the breakroom and despite her not seeming to notice his presence he asked if she knew about the “wild beast”. He seemed surprised she didn’t know about the stories of mysterious deaths among farm animals on the opposite side of the state where farms and fields were scattered among wooded hillsides. He sipped his coffee and launched into telling her that all summer long, farmers complained something was killing heir cows and sheep. At the time Van Helsing wasn’t particularly interested. But, she listened as he continued to tell her in voce loud enough to attract attention how it wasn’t until a hapless lama owned by a wealthy summer resident from the city was found dead that the story of the livestock killing “wild animal” was picked up by wire services and the Six O’clock news. He added how he heard on good authority, from a State Police Captain that all of the animals’ throats were torn open and their blood drained. Another colleague and a young nurse came over to the table and listened as he expounded on two trains of thought. One theory was a bear with a taste for blood. But he gave his head a shake and after another sip of coffee from his personalized mug, a gift from his wife which said “Number One Dad”, he concluded the idea was impossible as bears had not been seen anywhere in the state for almost a hundred years and “and those were brown bears who eat berries.”

“I believe the beast is a mountain lion. A big cat will seize its prey by the throat and I bet dollars to doughnuts the animals bled out.” Van Helsing’s other colleague stopped chewing on a cruller long enough to comment how he read a newspaper article which discounted the cat hypothesis as there had never been sightings of a big cat in the state. He added he read the last catamount, was hunted to extinction like the state’s native bears a “hundred years ago”.

“I know that. I wasn’t talking about cougars. I believe the cat is an Eastern Range mountain lion. They can travel hundreds of miles and one or two can easily come over from Michigan through Canada and New York. Cats hunt at night and can hide just about anywhere, like a cave or crevice, “ he paused and added “ and I’ve been invited by the State Police to join their hunt and Eva, if I bag it I’ll put it next to my bear skin rug.”

While the nurse remarked how brave he was, Van Helsing’s other colleague refilled his own coffee mug and remarked he saw another article that posited the deaths were caused by a ghoulish “hippie cult” ritually killing farm animals and it was a matter of time before they’d kill people in their homes just like the Tate-La Bianca murderers. Van Helsing, who lived alone, gave thought to that remark having followed the horrific story of the “Manson” family. But regardless of what was killing farm animals that summer, daily television and radio pronouncements advised parents to keep children and pets indoors. 

For two weeks state troopers, local police, game wardens and small group of select hunters, including Van Helsing’s co-worker unsuccessfully tramped through woods and swamps. What they found was not a marauding bear or great cat or even a hippy cult. What they found was a naked teenage girl hiding in a cave. Newspapers, TV and radio reported the “Wild Girl” attacked the searchers who found her and during the ensuing scuffle, one of the police officers in the group was killed. Within a few days Van Helsing saw how “Life Magazine” ran an exclusive photo-essay of the “Wild Girl’s Den” which showed the cave was little more than a large crack between giant granite erratics obscured by bracken in thick wood near a reservoir. 

A week later, Van Helsing’s colleague returned. But, he lost his bravado and was sullen when he responded to the obvious questions of his success by saying he was nowhere near the area the girl was found. Then several days after he returned to work, he cornered Van Helsing in a storage room. She had been getting supplies and spun about just as she heard the door close and locked. Seeing her colleague staring at her, Van Helsing backed against the shelves and grabbed a closed desk Sphygmomanometer, ready to stop whatever advances he planned. 

“Eva, I don’t know who to tell… No one else must hear this. Please promise me” he pleaded with round eyes. Van Helsing nodded ready to fight if need be.

“I lied, I was there. Not when it happened but… My group got a call on the walkie talkie and we had to bushwhack almost a mile running all the way. I had my kit and as soon as I got there, I knew it was too late for the cop. His throat was ripped open. There was so much blood, I slipped in it. I slipped in his blood and cut my palm on a rock. The girl was there too. Naked with tranq darts still sticking to her. I checked for her vitals. I couldn’t tell at first if she was alive or dead. But I saw her breathing. I had to set a broken arm for one of the others as we waited for the stretchers. He told me the cop went in the cave first. She grabbed him and bit through his neck. I saw laceration, it was indescribable. She attacked the others and tried to make a run for it before a game warden shot her with the darts. I helped load her when the stretchers got there,… just this little dirty naked kid. Then we lifted her. And I swear… I swear to god, she had wings. Please don’t tell anyone, please.” He said as he unlocked the door and left. 

Van Helsing felt more shaken by her colleague’s demeanor than the story. Despite her nod, she called her brother that night long distance Europe and again after her colleague suddenly took a leave of absence the next day. A week later, the same checkout line grocery store tabloids that suggested the animal killings were a “hippie cult” ran massive headlines, “NAKED VAMPIRE GIRL KILLS COP”. Curious Van Helsing picked up the cheap magazine sized paper and read the accompanying article. It reported the girl had bitten the unfortunate police officer and he bled to death from his wounds. It did not mention “wings”. 

Five weeks later, Van Helsing stood behind an imposing heavyset orderly as he twisted an oversized brass key inside the iron door to the Sue’s lock and turned a brass handle polished from years of use. He swung open the and meekly stood to one side so the two psychiatrists would step through first. Van Helsing followed Ackerman into a small office with a pair of large swivel chairs on either side of an enormous dark blue metal desk on top of which was strewn empty paper coffee cups, piles of newspapers and an overflowing butt filled ash tray along with several three ring binder notebooks and a black rotary dial phone. The room’s occupants, two identically dress orderlies immediately stood to attention as a transistor radio blared from its perch a on the sill of a narrow screen covered closed window.

“Top of the Fourth, Lyle pitching, Munson batting. Score is still Yankees two, Red Socks nothing. There’s the pitch….STRIKE “

“Turn that thing off,” commanded Ackerman, “Report!’

The tallest of the two attendants, a broad-shouldered fellow with a moon face and crew cut snapped off the radio.

“Nothing out of the ordinary to report, Doctor,” he said. “We’ve been checking the patient on schedule every fifteen minutes and she hasn’t moved from her spot on the floor all shift.” The other orderly, a tall gangly youngster with a blotchy acne ravaged face and thin moustache nodded in agreement.

“Well Doctor, its time you got your first look at your case.” Ackerman said and he directed the orderlies to lead them down the dimly lit celery colored corridor with walls marred by chipped rotten plaster and broken by a half dozen grey iron cell doors, three on one side and three on the other with a dingy two tone green service elevator door at the far end.

“Is there anyone else on the unit?” Van Helsing asked as they approached the last door on the left where a thick oversized cotton camisole with leather straps hung from a hook.

“No, everyone else was removed when the ‘patient’ was brought in. Everything about this case is hushed up. In fact unless the Court tells you differently you report directly to me.”

“I understand Doctor. But, may I ask why I’m here? I specialize in drug addiction and alcoholism, not competency restoration.”

“Doubtlessly you will get your answer in due time.”

Ackerman directed one of the orderlies to open the upper of door’s two hatches. The attendant quickly slid its gate to one side leaving an aperture just wide enough for someone to peer inside the cell. Even though Van Helsing was average height she had to stand on her toes get a good look. Other than its dirty grey padded walls, the tiny space was almost identical to a prison’s dry cell as it lacked both toilet and lavatory. The space was barely wider than Van Helsing’s home bathroom and its sole piece of furniture was a solidly built grey metal bed frame bolted to the floor under a narrow barred window and topped by a wafer thin mattress. Brightly lit by a ceiling light behind a metal screen she immediately noticed the grey concrete floor was littered with feathers and tiny bits of offal. 

“No blankets” murmured Van Helsing. Her disgust with the cell’s condition rose like bile when she saw the overflowing slop bucket in a corner and the patient next to it. The girl, she had read about was young looking, seemingly no older than fourteen of fifteen with russet complexion and shaved head. Barefoot she wore only a stained “Johnny”. Her malnourished look made her seem like an image of an enslaved child in America’s antebellum south or a victim of a Nazi Death Camp. The girl sat crouched on the floor between the bucket and bed, legs bent up to her chin and arms wrapped around her knees with her back pressed against a filthy padded wall. Van Helsing didn’t see the “wings” her colleague mentioned. But, she drew in a breath when she noticed the leather cuffs on the girl’s thin wrists and ankles with chain binding them together along with welts and bruises covering her arms. 

“Damn!” Van Helsing wanted to scream at Ackerman. She would not be a party to such abuse. But as she looked at the young girl’s black almond shaped eyes, she held her tongue. Their onyx depths reminded Van Helsing of the abandoned well she visited with her brother when they were little and how he would boost her up over its lip so she could feel light headed as she gazed into its bottomless depths. 

“Doubtlessly, once you get settled in, you’ll want to see your patient’s charts before you begin your examination” the Superintendent remarked from behind Van Helsing.

“Doubtlessly” replied Van Helsing without turning her eyes from the girl’s.

“Doctor, I must remind you that you are looking at an unpredictable dangerous patient with explosive behavior. This patient has killed one person already and since being brought here she’s injured several staff of this hospital. Some so severely they’ve been hospitalized. Let me remind you too that what may you see on her back are not “wings” as you doubtlessly have heard them called. They are deformities caused by the mother’s use of Thalidomide. Those dorsum appendages are in fact the limbs of a co-joined unformed nascent twin.” He paused, “We determined the principle diagnosis of this patient is Profound Retardation and the only thing you will accomplish in the four weeks you have been given is to certify the patient cannot be tried because of her incompetence.”

With the girl’s back against the wall of her cell, Van Helsing could not see more than a pair of humps and although she agreed with the superintendent the idea of them being wings was ludicrous, she did not agree with his assertion the girl was a victim of her mother’s Thalidomide use. Unlike America where the sedative had been rarely prescribed before the consequences of its use noticed, Thalidomide was popular in Europe, where it led to tens of thousands of babies born with malformed or missing legs and arms. Van Helsing treated a number of Thalidomide cases during her training as a doctor and other than the humps on the girl’s back, her well-formed limbs and delicate digits were far from the symptoms associated with the prescribed drug’s terrible prenatal poisoning. As to his pronouncement of her patient’s diagnosis, she would make her own determination of that. 

“You are to take no chances with this patient. You will get out, if she moves in any threatening way The attendants know how to deal with the patient and they will be with you at all times… And just in case you get some Dorothy Day idea, the shackles are only taken off when the patient is fully sedated and strapped down. You and your assistant will continue to follow the medication regime initiated by Doctor Sutton. The patient gets twice daily IM injections to ensure she remains compliant. The nurse will help prepare the syringes as well as any other sedation you may need to administer. Any questions Doctor?”

Van Helsing shook her head in response. 

“Now let’s get you to your office. Orderly you can shut the trap.”

The small hatch clicked shut behind the two doctors as they walked to the stairway door. One of the orderlies immediately unlocked and opened the metal barrier. Then just as Ackerman was about to leave the Sue, he turned to one of the orderlies and ordered him to clean the cell. 

Ella looked down at the floor and considered the eyes that had just stared in through the hole in the door. They were different from those of the men who captured and imprisoned her. There was no fear in them. As Ella thought about the change in her situation she flexed the chain between her wrists and as she did a link slowly elongated.

30


	3. Doubtlessly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doctor Van Helsing finds her new assignment quite a challenge.

Dr. Van Helsing followed the Hospital Superintendent up several flights of stairs past the locked iron doors that kept the wards in Hall where patients were interred.The angular Ackerman said nothing as he set a brisk pace to the offices on the building’s top floor.As Van Helsing watched him stride up ahead of her, she wanted to scream her outrage at him.But such impertinence would only lead to her being dismissed from the case and her patient would then be at the mercy of her successor.She kept quiet and found her anger drift away as she recalled how the young girl’s eyes seemed to beckon her.Eyes that made her feel as if she had tumbled into a deep pit.For a moment she lost track of where she was and almost walked into Ackerman when he stopped at the third floor landing.

“Doctor Ackerman, you didn’t answer my question.Why am I here?The patient has been hospitalized over four weeks.Surely someone with more expertise would have been assigned the case.”

Ackerman had already set off leading her down a long gloomy wood paneled corridor lit by a string of dull ceiling lights and the soft glow from the frosted windows of a half dozen or so closed doors. He answered without stopping or turning. 

“You, Doctor Van Helsing are the third physician assigned to the patient. The first, Doctor Sutton is still in the hospital after being attacked and your immediate predecessor left after a couple days.You are here Doctor Van Helsing because you are a woman and it appears the patient does not attack women.”

He halted at one of the doors and opened it without a trace of chivalry to walk into a compact library.Van Helsing followed him into a room lined with crammed floor to ceiling bookshelves.An immense oak desk had been placed in the middle of the room with a smaller metal desk set cattycorner next to it.The larger desk was covered with piles of papers and books and littered with an overflowing ashtray and stacks of empty Styrofoam coffee cups.The smaller desk on the other hand was neatly organized with in and out baskets and a robin’s egg blue ‘Selectric’ typewriter.Behind them a tall colonial trimmed window gave a postcard picture view of the river and late September’s fall foliage despite being partially blocked by a scuffed dull grey file cabinet.

“Doctor Van Helsing, this is your assistant, Doctor Goodwin. Goodwin is a bright star on the horizon or so he thinks.” Ackerman said with a hard narrow gaze at the young doctor whose unruly long thinning brown hair, baby face, rumpled white lab jacket and jeans were diametrically opposite to Ackerman’s own spotless lab coat and immaculate bland grey business suit.Goodwin immediately gave Van Helsing a broad toothy smile and eagerly extended his right hand.As she took his warm soft palm in hers, she noticed the large gold signet ring on his third finger. 

“Welcome Doctor…” Goodwin said.He was going to continue the greeting.But, Ackerman cut him off with a gruff cough and a curt introduction to the other person in the room, a tall buxom woman of rich umber complexion in a crisp white starched uniform and black banded white cap.

“And this is Nurse Robbins.Well. I’ll leave you to it Doctor Van Helsing.Doubtlessly you will be ready for our eight o’clock conference with the patient’s attorney tomorrow.” After he said all he had to say Ackerman turned and left the room.

“I hope you two aren’t as new to this case as I am.” Van Helsing remarked to her assistants. 

“We… that is Nurse Robbins and I’ve with “VG” from the beginning.I was the assistant to both Doctor Sutton and Doctor Stanley and I’ve been covering the case since Stanley decided to take a powder.”

“VG? I hope you don’t mean, Vampire Girl? We need to refer to her as Jane Doe or the patient, and not an abbreviation from the headlines,” replied Van Helsing “now, since we are working together, I want us to be less formal when we are alone.My first name is Eva. But, my brother and friends call me Eve“

“Welcome to Hell Hall Eve, my friends call me Archie.” 

“What about you Nurse Robbins, what can I call you?” Van Helsing asked.

“Nurse Robins or Nurse will suffice Doctor” Robbins replied.Her dour face was counterbalanced by the warm Caribbean Island inflection in her voice. 

“Thank you, Nurse Robbins.”

“By the way Eve” Goodwin asked, “are you German?You have a bit of an accent” 

“I’m Dutch, my family is from a little town not far from the German border and I did receive my degree in medicine from Leiden University, before I did my post graduate work at Yale.In fact, my residency was here about ten years ago, well not in the Hall.But, my practice is addictions and until the patient’s attorney called me Friday, I’ve been managing Heroin and Alcohol detoxes in the woman’s prison.”

“I’m a Harvard man myself, and I just finished my residency. VG…, I mean the patient, Jane Doe is my first real case.” Goodwin trumpeted. 

“Well Harvard man, can you tell me where we stand with our patient?Nurse Robbins please feel free to chime in.”

“There isn’t much.Sutton diagnosed your Jane as a Profoundly Retarded Thalidomide.You can see from his notes in the charts,” Goodwin said as he picked up a three ring binder from the pile on the oak desk and handed it to Van Helsing, “he’s the one who diagnosed the growths on her back as a nascent twin due to Thalidomide poisoning and because the patient does not communicate or have observable daily living skills he gave her the provisional MR diagnosis.You’ll see from the notes Ackerman concurs with Sutton and you may remember from the time you were here, Ackerman’s word is law.Anyway, your Jane hasn’t said a word since she arrived.Matter of fact she doesn’t seem to comprehend anything that is said even the simplest command.All she does is sit in that spot in her cell.That is, when she isn’t bat shit crazy attacking staff. However, if you ask me, I don’t think Sutton hit the mark about her intelligence.She is definitely aware of her surroundings.”

“I can agree with that. She immediately stared directly into my eyes when I looked in on her.It was almost as if she was trying to tell me something.” 

“If you say so Eve, after all some say the eyes are the windows of the soul.” Goodwin replied with a shrug.Robbins on the other hand silently nodded her head as if she too noticed the allure of those black eyes. 

“But, don’t let them pretty peepers fool you,” he continued, “she is explosive and that’s why she gets an IM cocktail twice a day.It keeps her from tearing the place apart, once in the morning at the beginning of the day shift, in fact you missed today’s administration by an hour, and once at the end of day shift.”Van Helsing leaned against the large desk and almost sat on its edge when she realized it wouldn’t be appropriate for her to be so casual despite her conservatively long skirt.Instead, she took the secretary chair behind the smaller desk and looked up at her new colleagues.

“What about Ackerman’s order to keep her in restraints even when she is in the cell?Is everyone afraid of the patient? 

“Yah… well, after your Jane ripped Sutton apart, Ackerman decided to not take chances.Anyway, the patient’s been explosive ever since they brought her to the Sue.You did see the headlines in the paper about the incident in the hospital? 

“I didn’t.Can you tell me about it?”

“Well, after your Jane was tranqed they took her to a nearby Emergency Room.Small town kinda place out West of the river somewhere.Somehow she broke free and took out the doctor examining her, an orderly and a state trooper were also hurt before they got her down and shot her up with so much  Haloperidol , they thought she was dead. You’ll see it mentioned in the transfer form.It wasn’t any different on the Sue.Your Jane may look like a little young thing.But, don’t let that fool you she goes from zero to sixty in a second.”Goodwin went on to describe how even with shackles and cocktail the orderlies would have to use truncheons to protect themselves when she was having “an incident”.Once the patient was subdued she would be wrapped in the camisole restraint kept by the door for that purpose and strapped to the bed on her stomach with two leather belts across her back, two across her legs, one across her shoulders and one across the back of her head.When Van Helsing asked how long she was kept in restraints, Goodwin replied the order from Ackerman is to keep her strapped to the bed the rest of the shift the incident occurred and if needed until the morning shift when she would immediately get her AM dose. 

“Sutton talked about having her lobotomized.But, it was more wishful thinking than a plan as the last procedure was performed years ago.”

“The poor child, I’ve never seen anyone take such punishment.” Robbins commented with a shake of her head.  
“What about the chicken feathers her cell?”

“The chickens were Sutton’s idea.Its’ all written down in the notes, they tried to feed her after she arrived.But, your Jane wouldn’t touch any food.So after a few days, Sutton had her “NG’d.”

Van Helsing performed her first Nasogastric feeding early in her residency.The procedure was on a patient at the same hospital although in a different building.He was in his early thirties and was a skeletal thin.The patient had stopped eating because of a fixed delusion food was contaminated by germs and the hospital could do nothing to offer him an incentive strong enough for him to eat. During the procedure, attendants strapped the patient face up on a table and Van Helsing inserted a flexible rubber hose up his nose, into the nasal cavity, down his throat into the stomach.During the procedure, she had to stand on the table over the patient holding a bolus bag so sustenance would drain into his stomach.

“I was there with Robbins when Sutton performed the procedure.It immediately went off the rails.There was Sutton pouring it in, cigarette in his mouth and even when your Jane started gurgling he kept it up.Finally she blew her lunch so hard everyone in the room got sprayed.Turns out she doesn’t have the enzymes in her stomach to digest food.Well, after the NG incident, Sutton tried an experiment.He had a live chicken slipped through the door’s food tray hatch.Your Jane caught it, tore off its head and sucked down the blood.After that the order is to slip in a couple live chickens or rats every other day.It’s fascinating to watch how she goes for them even in shackles.She amazingly quick despite the shackles and although some might find it grotesque the attendants take bets on how long it takes for her to catch her supper.

“It isn’t fascinating, it’s barbaric.” Nurse Robbins grumbled as she flashed a look of disapproval at Goodwin.

“Whatever.” 

By then Van Helsing opened the binder and started flipping through its sections as Goodwin continued with the “skinny” on her patient.She immediately noticed the medical section was missing. 

“You won’t find the medical records.Everything including the x-rays they took of your Jane when she first arrived were whisked away by the Court. But, I was there when they took them and saw her laid out on the table.Those wings,… sorry, those dorsum appendages of a conjoined unformed twin are amazing, when stretched out they are twice as long as she is tall and like bat wings are covered in a thin membrane.I don’t think she’s a Thalidomide, not from the pictures I’ve seen of them... Any way she keeps them contracted tight against her back.Anyway don’t let her bite you either. Your Jane has huge canine teeth on both her upper and lower mandibles. In fact, you should see the chunk she took out of Sutton’s chest.” Goodwin paused.“Do you want to know what I think?”

“Yes, by all means, Archie.But let me say, I don’t believe she is a victim of Thalidomide poisoning either.I saw many cases during my training and from what I’ve noticed so far the patient’s deformities look nothing like those poor children.” 

“I don’t believe your Jane’s condition is a singular one.In fact, I hypothesis she is an example of similar historic mutations which have been put down as legend or myth.Think of it.How are Angels and Demons portrayed?” It was a rhetorical question which he answered almost immediately. “They have arms and wings.I mean bats and birds have modified forelimbs.But when you see a picture of an Angel its wings… well they’re always portrayed as if they come out of its back.”Van Helsing immediately thought of the description in the Book of Isaiah of the Seraphim the prophet described his from his vision with its six wings with two covering his face, two covering his feet and “with two he flew”.

“Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe in Angels or Demons and there’s nothing supernatural about your Jane.But, I believe whatever deformity she has from is likely from a similar genetic condition of whatever was the sourced of those images.”

“Are you saying she can fly?”

“That’s ridiculous, even if the appendages were wings and no one will say they are, they would be as useful as a motorcycle’s ashtray.I’m sure if we pushed her off the roof, she would be like some kid with cardboard on his arms, that is if she even knew if she was falling. No, the patient’s deformities are a rare genetic abnormality probably the product of inbreeding, just as I am sure her inability to eat food is the basis of vampire legends and not TB as it is assumed.In fact I’m working on an article about her for the Journal”

“Isn’t it a bit premature for writing a peer article? What facts do you have?”

“Nothing yet, but I’m speaking to an attorney about getting the patient’s medical records released after the Court is through with the case.” 

“What about her living in the woods, any idea how she got there?”

“No one knows.I was told police and troopers knocked on doors across the entire state asking about her.Whoever her family was, they kept her a secret.Perhaps the newspapers are right.Maybe your Jane’s family dropped her off in the woods ashamed of having such a freak.I think she was stuck in an attic or basement somewhere for years which is why she doesn’t speak or is familiar with anything.Maybe, she killed her family and they are rotting in some farm house.”

Van Helsing didn’t take Goodwin’s supposition seriously and whatever Robbins believed, she kept as close to her chest as the little watch pin she wore on her starched white blouse.

When Goodwin finished, he went to the first floor staff café to get a couple cups of coffee while Robbins left for duties she had in another of the Hall’s wards.As she left Robbins explained to Van Helsing she would be back by noon and was reachable by overhead page if needed.Left alone Van Helsing looked around the provisional office.She decided that as the mess on the bigger desk was most likely Goodwin’s she would have him organize the piles of documents and toss the rest.She sat back and began reading the thick binder.Despite the missing medical section it was well organized into sections separated by numbered brass tabs.There were purple inked carbon copies of typed evaluation summaries and Van Helsing deduced the originals were filed away in some master file.Most of the documents were hand written note in either flowing cursive or in large block letters.

“Daily Running Notes” made up the thickest section and they divided in fifteen minute increments written by the charge aide in black for first shift, blue for second and red for third.Beginning when the young girl first arrived at the Sue they were for the most part a record of the brutally boring banality of life in a tiny cell with sporadic references to “incidents” which were dutifully recorded in their own section.Consistent in the running notes and other documents was how the patient did not interact with staff, did not speak or seem to understand what was said and spent most of her time sitting and sleeping in “her spot”.Staff wrote how Jane Doe was noncompliant and for her examinations had to be fully sedated. It was noted too she slept about an hour at a time and was as likely to sleep at night as during the day.Someone noted how unlike “Dracula” the patient would stand in a patch of sunlight when it came through the cell’s narrow barred window while another staff scrawled in capital letters the patient, “slept like a dog on the floor”. Along with the running notes and summaries, there were graphs where staff recorded when the patient was awake or asleep and how much excrement she produced in ounces as well as the weights of the chickens and rats. There was section for a medication log which detailed each IM cocktail she received as well as PRNs along with a record of her heart rate and blood pressure.

Van Helsing was puzzled by the figures she read.

“Archie, what’s the deal with the patient’s heart rate and blood pressure?I’ve never seen anything like them.” 

“That was a puzzle early on.But, it appears the unusual readings are caused by a pair of unformed heart muscle located at the base of each of her appendages. It appears they are related to the unformed nascent twin.”When Van Helsing thanked Goodwin she added her request he organize the desk he had been using and as he worked, she continued to read through the binder.She was fascinated by the “Incident Report” section which consisted of mimeographed forms that were filled out in various degrees of detail incidents when the patient attacked staff, the subsequent use of restraint and use of “PRN IM”.There were dozens and her coffee grew cold as she read through them.But when she finished, Van Helsing deduced it seemed the same orderlies, all men, were involved in most of the explosive behavior that led to the liberal use of truncheons and restraints.Van Helsing again felt the anger at how the patient was being treated when she saw the sets of Polaroid pictures and hand drawn illustrations of the welts and bruises all of which were identified as “insignificant injuries” because they quickly vanished.

It was from reading of the “Incident Notes” and the separate section for “Physician’s Notes” Van Helsing saw Doctor Sutton was brutally attacked. 

“Monday September 8, 1969 after several unsuccessful attempts to engage the patient with the picture book, I consulted with Doctor Ackerman about trying behavioral engineering to determine if the patient’s lack of communication is voluntary.I base my experiment on that of Mathews and Skinner who documented success with their use of aversive therapy on Autistics.My plan was approved by Doctor Ackerman and the Court, see attached forms in Legal.Tomorrow morning the patient will be fully sedated and strapped to her bed.Leads will be affixed to the inside of one of her legs.When she wakes, I will show her the picture book and apply aversive therapy for failure to respond.”

What happened on that particular day was described in the meticulously “Nurse’s Notes” section as recorded by Nurse Robbins in her fluid penmanship.

“Tuesday September 9, 1969 Zero nine hundred, Dr. Sutton administered IM to sedate the patient. The patient was taken to her bed and strapped down face up.With myself, Dr. Goodwin and Dr. Ackerman present along with four attendants, Dr. Sutton had a fifth orderly, Mister X attach clamps to patient’s inguinal region on the inside of the right thigh about three inches apart. The clamps were connected by wire to a transformer operated by the same orderly.At Ten thirty after the patient appeared to be alert Doctor Sutton began to show the patient pictures from his book while the orderly turned up the transformer at Doctor Sutton’s direction.The restraints must have been improperly placed as the patient broke free and attacked both the orderly and Dr. Sutton.A red alert was called, and after the remaining orderlies restrained the patient on the floor in a prone position I assisted Dr. Ackerman in sedating the patient by multiple IM injections to the right buttock. The camisole was applied and the patient was strapped down to the bed.She was still restrained at zero four hundred when I returned to the Secure Isolation Unit before the end of my shift.”

Scrawled notes from another nurse who had been present in the room lucidly described the orderly’s injuries were a ‘green stick’ fracture of an arm.Dr. Sutton’s injuries were more grave as the patient pulled his right arm from its socket and took a ‘chunk’ from his side “with her teeth”.

Van Helsing sat back in the chair and looked at her empty coffee cup.She was glad Goodwin finished cleaning off the other desk although it looked and sounded like he swept its top putting everything into a couple cardboard file boxes.He sat in its large leather upholstered chair reading a copy of the “Journal” as she closed the binder.

“Archie, I wonder what kind of reaction the patient would have if I showed her Sutton’s picture book. I think it would be a way we can test her memory.Her reaction to the book can tell us whether she was traumatized by the incident with Sutton and the extent of her reaction might be a clue whether we can use the book or something like it in the future. What do you think?”

“Well, it’s worth a try Eve.I’m sure the book is here someplace.”

It took Goodwin a few minutes of rummaging about the room and stacks of boxes to find a thick cardboard child’s “First Dictionary” and it was almost noon when he handed the book with its friendly colorful cover to Van Helsing.She quickly flipped through its pages of with pictures where common objects were described with one word labels. The first page had an image of red apple with green leaf along with an accompanying description that read: ‘A is for A-P-P-L-E’.The next picture was of a black bat hanging upside down in a tree, then a cat, then a doll.

“Archie, let’s try it now.”

“Good idea Eve.The orderlies on duty now are exceptionally big.But, I don’t have keys so, we’ll need Robins.Besides I can show you around the Sue, and this way you’ll know where everything is for the three thirty IM.”

A few minutes later Van Helsing, Goodwin and Nurse Robbins descended to the basement with Robbins unlocking final door. They were joined by an additional pair of orderlies and were met by the two already on duty Goodwin was right, they were as big as the TV wrestlers her daughter would laugh at on Saturday mornings.There was a small room next to the office area with a sink and “med” cabinet and Nurse Robbins assisted the two doctors in preparing syringes in case they were needed. 

“Now Eve, I mean Doctor Van Helsing.If something goes wrong, I can do the injection.I’ve done it enough times already and you can’t fumble about when she is going ‘bat shit’ I have it down pretty good.” Van Helsing thanked Goodwin for his suggestion and added she hoped it wouldn’t be necessary.Then with Doctor Robbins and their escorts they went down corridor to the last door on the left.

“What the Fuck?” spat Van Helsing when she saw her patient’s condition through the trap.

“Dammit, get that door open. NOW!” 

At first no one moved. But, Van Helsing was a doctor and doctors were in charge. After a pregnant moment one of the orderlies used an immense brass key to twist the lock and opened the cell door.Inside the girl was crouched where the Van Helsing last saw her.But she looked like she had been hit by a fire hose.

“Doctor Ackerman told us to clean the cell and we did.” the attendant closest to Van Helsing replied with a sneer. 

“We always hose patient and the cell down,” said the other orderly apologetically, “It is the safest way to do it.”

“Robbins, Goodwin, is that true?”

“Yes Doctor” replied the nurse. 

“Those are the orders from Dr. Ackerman Eve.It is to make sure no one gets hurt.” Goodwin added.

“Get me a blanket!” Van Helsing barked not caring who followed the order.

One of the orderlies returned with a heavy quilted poncho, similar to the one used in the prison for suicidal inmates who would tear their clothing up to create a ligature. She took the poncho and shoved the two orderlies standing in front of the door out of her way without considering the consequences of being alone in the cell with the Vampire Girl.

Ella looked up when Van Helsing entered the cell.Once again their eyes met and the doctor felt a sudden warm flush bring a sense of calm to her.She leaned towards the young girl and held the poncho forward lightly in her fingers.As she did her patient reached up as far as the chains allowed and took the gift.Despite the shackles she gave the poncho a deft flip and it settled over her like a blanket.

Van Helsing saw new dark purple bruises and thick welts on her thin arms and decided she would have it out with Ackerman about the treatment the young girl was being subjected to. Even a caged animal was treated better.She left the cell and had the door shut behind her.She then directed Robbins and Goodwin to stay behind in the Sue to make sure nothing else happened to her patient and then she snatched an orderly’s keys to make her way outside unheeded. 

As Van Helsing strode across the campus towards the sprawling administrative building with its corner turrets, gables and central dome she heard a crackling announcement over an outside speaker,“Doctor Van Helsing report to the Superintendent, immediately.”

Such an announcement would be heard throughout the hospital and was as Van Helsing recalled from her residency Ackerman’s way shaming and intimidating staff unlucky to find themselves in his crosshairs.But she was too angry to be cowered.She marched through the Barnum’s ornately carved main doors, across its marble foyer to the polished brass doors of its elevator.Within moments she was on the ‘Fourth Floor’ where frosted glass panel of the Superintendent’s office was the first thing she saw when the doors parted.Van Helsing marched across the corridor and instead of knocking, she twisted the oval door knob and entered a silent room with high ceiling, towering windows and tall ancient wood file cabinets.

The Superintendent’s outer office was presided over by his secretary, a prim parsimonious spinster-type whose severely pulled back brown hair was streaked with crinkled grey.Without as much as a “hello” the secretary immediately stood up and officiously escorted the doctor to the Superintendent’s inner office.

“You have no authority to go into that cell alone” bellowed Ackerman, “the orderlies are trained to deal with the patient.Not you. You were derelict in your duties and I have half a mind to have you sacked; not only from this hospital but from the prison too. ” Ackerman stood at his desk, his red face contrasted with its green blotter and the porcelain bust lined with phrenology regions that sat on one corner.Van Helsing held her head down with her arms behind her back as she as stood on the office’s ornately decorated blue carpet. As she weathered Ackerman’s remonstrations, she wondered who reported the incident. 

“Anything to say for yourself… Doctor?” 

“Yes,” replied Van Helsing.She stepped forward and leaned over his desk placing her hands firmly on its pristine felt blotter so she could look him in his eyes.

“The Court assigned me to this case and I will do what I have to do to evaluate and prepare the patient if that is possible. If I can’t act the way I see fit, I will call the Judge myself and terminate my assignment regardless of the cost.” She paused to see what effect she had. 

“I admit I was rash.But, it is inhumane how this hospital is treating the patient.She was soaked and shivering and beaten and I will not allow her to be treated so, as long as I am her doctor. In fact the first thing I am doing is stopping the daily IMs.They chemical restraints which as you know affect her ability to think.” Van Helsing waited for Ackerman to blow up.She was ready, if she was dismissed, to go to the papers.Instead the superintendent sat down in his high back leather upholstered chair.

“Well Doctor Van Helsing, doubtlessly you know you are skating on thin ice and you will get your chance to make your point tomorrow morning when you meet the patient’s attorneys.Until then, you will deal with the situation as you found it.You are dismissed.But, before you go, see my secretary, there are some releases you should have signed earlier this morning.”He pressed a button on an ancient intercom and called out in a loud booming voice, “Joanie, Dr. Van Helsing is leaving.Make sure she signs all the forms in her file first.”

30   
  



	4. Scribble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dr Eva Van Helsing makes a decision

Credence Clearwater Revival’s lyrics “Big wheel keep on turnin’, Proud Mary keep on burnin’” poured from the Bug’s speakers over its incessantly clattering engine. Eva Van Helsing nodded her head to the music as she tapped her wedding ring on the steering wheel. She was exhausted and the popular song was a welcome distraction. Her meeting with Doctor Ackerman did not turn out the way she had wanted, she feared the next morning’s meeting would result in her being removed from the case and cruel treatment of her patient would continue. 

Van Helsing returned to the Sue twice that afternoon. The first time was to administer the PM dose of the antipsychotic sedative IMs. Accompanied by two additional orderlies from one of the other units, she returned with Goodwin and Nurse Robbins. As Robbins helped Van Helsing prepare the twin syringes, Goodwin explained the procedure. She would wait until the four orderlies restrained the patient. If they held her one would extend her arm and once Robbins wiped the site so Van Helsing could inject the syringes in the patient’s deltoid muscle just below the knobby top of her arm. If necessary they would apply the chamisal and the injections could be made in the upper thigh. 

With apparent exhilaration, the orderlies rushed into the cell, two of them carried truncheons strapped around their wrists. The patient having seen the door open stood up in tense anticipation. But as soon as she saw Van Helsing, she relaxed and suddenly the doctor once again felt an unusual warm dizziness. 

“I’ve never seen the patient be so compliant” remarked Goodwin when they left the Sue and began to climb the stairs back to their office.

The second time Van Helsing returned to the Sue was after she had gone to the hospital’s library to pick up what books she could find on developmental psychology. She peered through the door hatch at the young girl sitting cross legged, her back against the wall. The patient looked up at the door. The strange young girl’s jet black eyes were like magnets that haunted the doctor during the drive home. 

Despite the presence of Ackerman’s sword hovering over her neck, Van Helsing felt hopeful. She was going to be fully prepared for their next meeting and she felt fortunate Nurse Robbins promised she would stay on the unit until the night shift arrived, when orderlies who Robbins said could be trusted would be on duty and Goodwin was going to stay on call throughout the night. He assured Van Helsing she would be immediately called if there was any incident involving “her Jane Doe”. 

Van Helsing ignored the inevitable cluster of loud commercials and prattling introduction by the station’s ‘DJ’ to the next song, The Isley Brother’s “It’s Your Thing” as she approached her street. She tapped the clutch and flicked the car’s stick adding the engine’s whine to the R&B tune’s horns, bass, guitar and a sprinkle of piano. There was a sharp squeal of brakes as she turned from the dark deserted state road to the dirt lane that led to her home, a small cottage set under a stand of tall pines between abandoned railroad tracks and a fenced off field where horses from a nearby farm once entertained her daughter.

It was nearly quarter of seven when Van Helsing kicked off her shoes at the doorway and dropped the borrowed books on her country style kitchen table. She popped a frozen TV dinner into the oven and as it cooked she grabbed a quick shower. Refreshed, she slipped on capris with her husband’s favorite sweater just as the oven’s timer dinged. She pulled the compartmentalized aluminum tray out and tore off its cover to reveal a tasty selection of fried chicken pieces, mashed potatoes, corn and something that was either a brownie or pudding. 

Suddenly, the phone rang.

“Eve, how was your first day with the new case?” 

“Adam, shouldn’t you be in bed, it must be after midnight there” she replied sitting down at the table and stretching the phone cord to its limit. 

“Eve have you seen a clock recently, it’s almost two here. But, I knew you would be working late. So how did it go?”

Adam Van Helsing and his sister held a twin’s bond. They were so close they would finish each other’s sentences to the chagrin of their friends and teachers. They had their mother’s dark hair and their father’s winsome smile. Yet, the twins had different personalities. Eve had her father’s practicality. Adam like his mother was artistic and a bit whimsical. Competitive and bright, the siblings graduated at the top of the class from the local “Voorbereidend Wentenschappelijk Onderwijs”, preparatory school for university education and became the first twins to attend Leiden University to study medicine. It was the same university their father graduated from with his medical degree. He had a successful practice and some notoriety from being in the resistance during the Occupation. Their mother died from Tuberculosis just before Liberation and after their father’s sudden death while they were at University the glue that held the twins close softened. Eve earned her degree in medicine and went to America where she pursued Psychiatry and married. Adam however, left medical school for seminary and then decided to study Psychology after he finished his compulsory military service. He then became a lecturer at Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam.

With three thousand miles separating Eve and Adam, they stayed ‘in touch’ for years with infrequent long distance calls and sporadic letters. But, when Eve’s husband and daughter were killed by a drunk driver, Adam immediately came to the ‘States’ and stayed with his sister for several months. Afterwards the two renewed the close relationship of their youth with weekly phone calls. Often when Eve was home alone during the intervening two years she contemplated returning to Europe so she could be closer to her brother. 

Eve was happy to hear Adam’s voice over the crackling phone line and she quickly recounted the day’s events as her dinner grew cold. She tried to rush through the conversation knowing that as he called her he was paying overseas rates. Her brother as usual was supportive and kept asking her to slow down. He was especially attentive when she told him how Ackerman was cowered by her assertive response to his tirade and he assured her the next day’s meeting would go well.

“I think Doctor Goodwin is right about such abnormalities being the source of legends for angels, demons and vampires. Although I would hate to bump into a Seraphim.” Eve laughed and told her brother she too had thought of Isaiah when Goodwin mentioned his hypothesis. 

“Promise me you will keep an open mind to other explanations for your Jane Doe’s condition beside some terrible birth defect.” Adam said just before he hung up.

The next morning Van Helsing was a good fifteen minutes early for her meeting with Ackerman and the attorney. She pulled the Bug in front of the administration building and took a last drag on her cigarette and butted it out in the car’s ashtray. Van Helsing hadn’t smoked years. But, after the death of her husband, she missed the feeling of calm an occasional puff brought her. She let out a slow smoky exhale and checked herself in the rearview mirror. Satisfied, she left the car and once again entered the stately building. For the second time in two days, she met the Superintendent’s impassive secretary in his outer office and once again ‘Joanie’ stood up at her desk. But this time her lips formed a thin grin.

“Oh Doctor Van Helsing, didn’t you get the message? The conference has been postponed until eleven thirty.” 

Angry at the unexpected change and embarrassed for not knowing about it, Van Helsing sped through the still mist shrouded campus to the Hall suppressing the urge to light up another cigarette as she did. She felt calmer by the time she arrived at the Library office and was ready to begin working with her patient. After she answered Goodwin’s questions why the meeting was so brief, she heard Robbin’s report how the night was quiet and Goodwin’s report that his morning visit to the Sue for the AM injection was also uneventful.

“Doubtlessly as Ackerman always says, we’ll know after my meeting the whether it will be the last one.” She added they were going to immediately proceed with her experiment of seeing the patient’s reaction to the picture book. 

Once Robbins had two additional orderlies meet them at the Sue, Van Helsing explained that unlike the procedure they had been observing, she would enter the cell alone with the orderlies along with Robbins and Goodwin waiting in the corridor.

“If something happens, you are not to do anything unless I give the order. Understand?” Goodwin started to share his concern how there would be no way to intervene should the patient “Explode”. But, Van Helsing interrupted him and asked again whether everyone understood her direction.

“Yes Doctor” was the perfunctory response.

Once the door was opened, Van Helsing entered leaving the others waiting beyond its threshold. Robbins held a tray of syringes, just in case sedation was required while the orderlies gripped their truncheons. As expected Jane Doe sat in her spot, the poncho discarded in one corner. 

“At least the pail has been emptied” Van Helsing thought to herself as she looked about the cramped space. Then in a low quiet voice, she greeted the young teenager and slowly knelt down on one knee. Van Helsing wanted to once again into the young girl’s eyes. But, the patient was looking downs at her manacled wrists and if she noticed the doctor kneeing in front of her she did not show it. Van Helsing jotted a few notes on the patient’s condition in a spiral notebook, including how it seemed the bruising and welts she saw the previous day had vanished. Then with a broad smile, which she hoped made her look friendly, she laid the notebook on the bed with pen stuck in the wire binding and started the experiment. The first thing she did was point to her chest and said “Doctor”. She repeated herself several times before she pointed to the young girl and said “Patient”. The introduction did not provoke a response. She repeated the exercise a second time and the patient slowly looked up. When she did, Van Helsing felt her heart flutter. But, the young girl stared past Van Helsing and out the door. 

Still as it appeared she had her patient’s attention, and the patient did not seem to react to seeing the book in Van Helsing’s hands, she decided it was time to begin. She opened the picture book to the first illustration, the picture of the apple and pointed to it. The patient did not seem disturbed and the doctor slowly repeated Apple several times before she tried other languages she was familiar with. Because the Dutch and German words for apple were too close in pronunciation to English, she repeated the words for the fruit in Russian,” Yabloko”; Italian, “Mela” and French, “Pomme” several times each. There no reaction. The young girl did not even look at either the pictures or Van Helsing. Undeterred she turned to the page with the illustration of a cat licking its paw and repeated the futile exercise. “Cat”, “Kot”, “Gatta”, “Chatte”. Again there was no response. Van Helsing did the same for the rest of the short book. But, when Van Helsing turned to the page with a picture of a yellow sun the clouds outside suddenly broke and shaft of light fell through the narrow barred window onto the floor between patient and Doctor. 

“Sun” Van Helsing said pointing to the picture of the sun. She repeated herself and pointed out the window.

The girl was amazingly swift. She jumped up and grabbed the notebook from the bed. 

“Stand back” one of the orderlies yelled as the four brawny men rushed forward into the cell swinging their truncheons. They were immediately joined by Nurse Robbins and Goodwin. Goodwin had already grabbed one of the syringes and was ready for the orderlies to do their work. One of them pushed Van Helsing roughly against the wall and for a moment she watched aghast as the patient twisted about under a flurry of blows and grappling fingers while she furiously scribbled. 

“That’s enough!” Van Helsing shouted. 

“DAMMIT, STOP!” the doctor barked. The second command caught the attention of the brawling orderlies and before anyone, including Van Helsing knew what was happening, she found herself between their truncheons and the patient well within the girl’s reach. The four men stopped with heaving chests ready to begin another melee. Goodwin and Robbins were frozen in shock.

“Now everyone calm down” Van Helsing said quietly in a calm voice. She pivoted and faced the patient who maneuvered herself into a corner. The doctor took a couple steps backward and slowly crouched down as she did she cooed softly how everything was going to be ok. The girl crouched as well. Then with a deep breath, Van Helsing slowly stretched a hand towards her patient and with a soft exhale said “Please”

“Please” the girl replied as she handed the notebook and pen to Van Helsing. 

“Please” repeated the patient as she pointed a thin finger towards the discarded picture book.

The patient looked at Van Helsing and once again the doctor felt a dizzying warmth spread through her body. Van Helsing slowly nodded and handed the book to her patient. As she did she saw her watch. The meeting with Ackerman was about to begin and she would be late. Van Helsing slowly stood up and waved everyone from the cell. Once the door was closed she directed Goodwin to make sure no one left the unit or use the phone until she returned. Then with a sense of triumph and keys borrowed from Robbins, she drove to Barnum and met the stern faced Joanie who informed her she was five minutes late. 

The secretary silently escorted the Doctor to an oversized conference room lined with warm linenfold oak panels and adorned with paintings of Ackerman’s predecessor’s. The room with its plaster coffered ceiling featured an overwhelming glossy conference table surround on two sides by wall length windows framed by dozens of glass panes. Ackerman sat at the table’s head and outside behind him, was a bucolic view of the slowly moving azure colored river that flowed between fall painted trees except where double arches of a grey steel bridge stitched its banks together. The view from the other window was of the campus and fields of brown hay with distant thickly wooded rolling hills of orange, red and yellow. 

Van Helsing recalled that in a previous incarnation, the Conference Room was part of an operating theater and she wondered if the sudden chill she felt was from ghosts of hapless patients who faced scalpel for involuntary lobotomies and sterilizations or was from the hard set faces that met her. Ackerman had the same disdainful look he had the previous day as he glared at Van Helsing. He was accompanied by four others, not including Joanie who nimbly took an empty chair and produced a steno pad. 

“Good morning Doctor Van Helsing. Please sit down.” Ackerman said with a forced smile as he waved his right hand towards the chair nearest to her. 

“Doubtlessly we will talk about you being late later” he paused and then added “for now, you need introductions.” The superintendent presented the others. To Ackerman’s right sat James Warren, the attorney who called Van Helsing the previous Friday. Van Helsing thought the late middle-aged attorney looked smarmy in his slick three piece suit and shiny black hair. She considered his red bulbous nose a sign of alcoholism. Next to Warren sat his paralegal, “Miss Murray”, a mousy looking young woman who wore coke bottle thick glasses set in tortoiseshell cat eyed frames and a “mod” style mini navy shift dress with white trim along with a matching thick white band that held back her long dirty brown hair. Ackerman then introduced the somber looking grey haired fellow in tweed jacket and wire rimmed glasses to his left as “Doctor Frazetta”. 

“And this is Mrs. Bryant,” he said pointing to the slim middle aged woman whose auburn hair was piled up in a beehive. 

“That’s attorney Bryant, Doctor Ackerman” the woman retorted 

“Doctor Van Helsing, I’m the Guardian Ad Litem appointed by the Court” she added in a saccharine manner. 

“I apologize Attorney Bryant. Let’s get started. Doubtlessly, Doctor Van Helsing, you will offer us your observations about the patient.”

“Do you mean how the patient has been mistreated for the past five weeks?”

“Mistreated? I understand all efforts are being made to treat her humanely. But, after all she is a violent patient who already killed once.” Attorney Warren replied.

“The incident reports and notes in her charts indicate she has only been violent when harmed or threatened.”

“Are you saying she is perfectly safe?” asked Bryant. “What about poor Doctor Sutton?”

“Doctor Sutton had had clamped her to a transformer and was sending electric shocks into the inside of her thigh.”

“Doctor Sutton, was preforming a procedure recognized for treating mentally retarded autistics as a way of reducing the need for psychotropics. Not only that, the procedure was approved by myself, Attorney Warren and Attorney Bryant and was done in collaboration with Dr. Mathew a protégé of B.F. Skinner and founder of the Behavior Research Institute” Ackerman responded coldly.

“I’ve read Dr. Mathew’s articles,” replied Van Helsing, glad she had read up on the “treatment” Sutton had been conducting when he was attacked. 

“And I understand there is little evidence electric shocks to the skin have any positive effect, even when it used as a last resort to prevent repetitive self-injurious behaviors. I could find no documentation for its use in observing someone’s reactions, unless you want to count torture. But, I will defer to any published studies and I’m not here to argue whether Dr. Sutton was right or wrong and I’m not going to say he was torturing the patient either. I’m here to say I won’t tolerate inhumane treatment of my patient including the use of truncheons and chemical restraints.”

“And how do you want a patient who has killed and brutally maimed treated?” asked Bryant.

“Humanely Attorney Bryant and not hosed down like a caged dog. I believe I can diligently conduct a fair evaluation of her capacities if that is what you want.”

“There’s no hope, Doctor. She is a soulless creature, a freak of nature who never should have been born. But, she was born and we must keep her confined for the rest of her life for her sake.” replied the Guardian Ad Litem.

“Doctor, the Court knows fully well, the patient is not capable of understanding and the Judge is prepared to immediately accept your certification patient is not competent and not restorable to competency.” Warren added.

“I don’t agree. I was late to this conference because of a break through.”

“What do you mean?” asked Ackerman.

Van Helsing recounted the incident in the Sue and waited for their reaction.

“Echolalia is not uncommon. Repeating “Please” does not imply the patient is capable of understanding.” Ackerman commented.

“It is more of a response than anything I’ve noticed so far in her charts.”

“What would you want so you can bed diligent in your efforts?” Ackerman asked as leaned forward in his arm chair. 

“Right now, I want four things. First, I want to choose the staff working with the patient, I want my office moved to an empty cell in the Sue. I want the patient transferred to a cell with a toilet and finally I want the patient to be unshackled when she is in her cell. As such, I will be discontinuing the medication regime she is on.”

Van Helsing stared at Ackerman. She did not add she was prepared to give notice if her demands were declined, nor would she tell them about going to the newspapers regardless of the consequences. But, a she waited for his response she noticed the superintendent turn to the silent Dr. Frazetta who seemed to have nodded in response to something unsaid. 

“Doubtlessly you understand if we agree to your demands you will take full responsibility for the consequences“

“Doubtlessly”

When Van Helsing returned to the Library she told Goodwin and Robins she was being supported for the time being. 

“The patient is scheduled to appear in four weeks. I asked for flexibility in scheduling the Court appearance depending on the progress we make. But it looks like the schedule is firm. ” Van Helsing told her two colleagues,

“The BID IMs are discontinued as of this morning and we’ll be working out of the Sue as soon as they install a phone extension in one of the cells and move a couple desks in.” Van Helsing had been leaning against the oversized wood desk and she gave it a hard rap with her knuckles, “this leviathan will be staying up here.” she added with a smile. 

“Once we are settled, we’ll move the patient to a cell with proper facilities. She knows how to use a slop bucket, so I want to see if she can use a sink and toilet and I notice the Sue has a shower room which can be a goal to try for as well. When she is in her new cell, we will remove the shackles and she will only wear them in transit. But, first things first, I want to make sure she is no longer treated like an animal. Nurse Robbins, can you find us staff who won’t mistreat the patient and can you help me select a nurse for night shift and doctor for on-call coverage so Archie and I have some backup? I want to make sure we don’t get pot luck.”

“Eve, any changes in staffing must go through the Unit Directors.”

“Ackerman gave me authority and as you said Archie, his word is law.” 

“Doctor I can have a list ready in a few minutes. But, most of the attendants will not be ‘white’ Robbins said.

“Nurse Robbins, I am sure if you select them, the staff will be both humane and caring. When you are ready, please give the list to Ackerman’s secretary and if you have any problems, have the problems call me.” 

Van Helsing sat down at the desk and began to transcribe her notes from the morning’s incident for the charts.

“Here’s the list Doctor” Robbins said after a few minutes. “I wanted to get your approval before I hand it myself to Ackerman’s secretary.” The nurse stopped and stared at the patient’s scribbles on the page in Van Helsing’s notebook; scribbles of a large circle with two smaller circles intersecting it.

“That looks like a water molecule” the Nurse remarked, “even the relative size of the circles looks accurate”

“I learned in Chemistry an Oxygen atom is almost a third bigger than a Hydrogen atom.”

“And the three atoms are set at an angle,” Van Helsing added. 

Goodwin came over and looked over their shoulders. 

“This isn’t Echolalia” Van Helsing exclaimed as she tore the sheet from the note book and got up from the desk. 

“Come with me” she told Goodwin and the nurse who had to practically sprint to keep up with Van Helsing as she descended the stairs to the Su. They startled the two orderlies on duty and watched Van Helsing filla paper cup from the water cooler without explanation. They followed her to the patient’s cell and she ordered the senior of the two to open it. She then told the attendants, Robbins and Goodwin to stay back in the corridor. Despite Goodwin’s protest they should have back-up, Van Helsing entered the tiny space and approached the patient who was sitting in her “spot”. The young girl immediately looked up at the doctor. She watched Van Helsing crouch down in front of her. The doctor placed the cup and paper on the floor in front of the patient. She then traced the scribble with a finger.

“Water” Van Helsing said as she dipped the same finger into the cup. 

“Water” she said as she gazed at the patient without realizing their eyes had once again locked together. 

The patient leaned forward and placed her pinky finger into the cup.

“Water” the young girl said and after a brief breath of pause added. “Misa”

Van Helsing’s heart felt like it was going to burst. She scooted a bit closer to her patient and again stuck her finger into the cup. With a broad smile she repeated what the young girl said. 

“Misa, Water”

The patient nodded her head and returned the smile. 

“Misa, Water” she answered. 

Barely containing her excitement, Van Helsing pressed her chest with the point of her finger and started to say Doctor but changed her mind. 

“Eve” she said.

The young girl gave Van Helsing a modest smile as she pointed to her chest and replied.

“Ella”

Ella then turned her finger towards Van Helsing and said “Doctor Eve.”

30


	5. Chess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dr Van Helsing makes breakthroughs with her new patient

Doctor Ackerman’s loud cough interrupted Van Helsing just as she began her account of the two weeks that had passed since she last met the Superintendent, attorneys and the mysterious Doctor Frazetta. She found hard not to glare at him. She was angry because his rudeness was purposeful. She was also angry Ackerman failed to schedule an earlier meeting in the light of the breakthroughs she was having with Ella. She notice during the two weeks she had been Ella’s doctor, the normally overly controlling Ackerman seemed indolent during his sporadic visits to the Sue and he did not mention his thoughts on Van Helsing’s daily reports. She sensed Ella would find no sympathy in the room. But, Van Helsing was ready. An avid chess player, she prepared for the meeting as if it was a tournament and she studied her opponents. 

Ackerman was easy; the imperious psychiatrist had not changed from her time as a resident. A stickler about rules he made sure nothing blemished “the reputation of his hospital” and would not want anything negative to appear in the papers. Joanie, Ackerman’s thin lipped secretary was his “Majordomo” who slavishly followed his whims. Attorney Warren was, according to one of Van Helsing’s prison colleagues was known as having been inebriated “in front of the bench” on more than one occasion. He and his young secretary arrived several minutes late and Van Helsing saw how as they sat down he surreptitiously placed a hand just below the hem of her miniskirt. Attorney Bryant, the patient’s chain smoking Guardian Ad Litem was the wife of a millionaire business owner who made national news for confronting “filthy hippies” on a New Haven Green peace rally. The same newspaper touted her plans of running for Congress; an ambition that would make her avoid any negative news about how the young girl she was supposed to protect was treated. Frazetta however, was an enigma. Van Helsing’s search through several editions of “Who’s Who in Medicine” and library card catalogs and Journals led to nothing. Queries to colleagues and friends from her Yale days and from Conferences drew a blank card and even her brother Adam with his “Continental” connections came up empty handed. 

“Before you get started Doctor Van Helsing, let me say we are very impressed by the work you have done in such a short while.” His compliment was not mirrored by his blunted affect and Van Helsing deduced he was praising her against his better judgement. 

“Yes, Doctor Ackerman, Doctor Van Helsing has made remarkable progress. I’m sure she is ready to make her recommendations” added Bryant. 

“Attorney Bryant, I’m not able make a recommendation. Even though Ella seems to have remarkable receptive skills as I’ve noted and responds without hesitation when asked questions, about books I’ve read to her, she does not initiate conversations and…”

“Doctor Van Helsing, when you call the patient “Ella” it shows me that you getting attached to your patient. I must warn you, if I believe you are violating your professional boundaries with the patient, you will be dismissed, despite any progress you believe you’ve made.”

I apologize, Doctor Ackerman. I’m not becoming attached to the patient. I was hoping to humanize her to this panel by referring to the name she calls herself. After all, this is a young girl who up until recently was treated inhumanely by this hospital.” Van Helsing answered.

“Just so we have an understanding, we are not meeting to discuss how the patient was treated in the past. We are asking you for your determination of her capacity to appear before a Judge. You do understand?”

“Yes Doctor Ackerman,” replied the checked Van Helsing.

“The patient has been to date unable to initiate conversation and she has only been responsive to the female staff including myself. She also has not been able to participate even in a modified Stanford-Binet or the Vineland Adaptive as such I don’t have enough information to determine her capacity to understand. However, she has made numerous accomplishments since I reported her drawing the image of a water molecule which I want to share with this panel even though everything is in my reports.” Van Helsing continued to explain that as the patient seemed responsive to books, she decided to use them as a way of measuring her ability to learn and communicate. 

Van Helsing started with her daughter’s collection of picture books and easy readers like “Doctor Suess”. She found the patient showed a remarkable ability to repeat words without error and seemed to grasp their meaning from the pictures. She added she thought patient seemed to enjoy books as she would look through her collection of children’s books and magazines when she was alone. 

“Although we can’t change the overall conditions of the Sue, we’re doing what we can to make the patient’s confinement was as comfortable as possible to reduce stress. She continues to sleep on the floor and we’ve provided her a Japanese sleeping mat a friend of mine from Yale procured. We successfully moved her to another cell and her shackles were removed almost two weeks ago without incident and I am satisfied with the staff Nurse Robbins chose as being both professional and attentive to the patient.” 

“By the way Doctor, I understand the patient knows how to use the toilet. Would you tell us how you taught her?” asked Bryant. 

Van Helsing had extensively identified the steps taken to familiarize the patient with her new cell’s facilities in the reports provided to Doctor Ackerman. But, she smiled at the Guardian Ad Litem as she replied. 

“Of course Attorney Bryant, once we moved the patient to a cell equipped with toilet and lavatory, we removed her shackles. We kept the slop bucket in the new cell for a day and observed the patient. I then showed the patient how the sink is used. The she immediately copied me by turning on the tap to rinse her face and drink from her cupped hands. I then emptied the slop bucket into the toilet and flushed. My demonstration was effective as during the night shift one of the aides reported she saw the patient sitting on the toilet during a fifteen minute check and then heard the toilet being flushed. You may notice in my reports which I’m sure Doctor Ackerman has shared with you we had similar results when we introduced the patient to the shower and now the patient is a pullover shirt and pants which while being prison issue are a lot better than the thin backless hospital gown she had been wearing.”

“What about a brassiere?” Warren asked.

“Attorney Warren, one of the things we did before introducing the patient to clothing was to show her a Sears and Roebuck women’s undergarment catalog. When we received the prison clothes which as you may know are a thick brown cotton, the shipment included underpants and a brassiere which Nurse Robbins and I thought would be about the right size for a girl of her stature. The patient chose to wear underpants. But, due to the nature of her … appendages, she does not wear a bra.”

“The next thing you’ll want is for us to approve you taking her clothes shopping at Fox’s or some other store in one of those new Malls” Bryant added sarcastically as she squashed the butt of her cigarette in an ashtray before lighting another one. Van Helsing ignored the remark.

“Any woman problems?” Warren asked as he leaned towards his secretary with a hand hidden under the Conference table. 

“If you’re speaking of menses, there is no evidence she has begun them and I understand nothing was reported before I was assigned as her doctor.” 

Rather than wait to be peppered by further superfluous questions, Van Helsing explained how Doctor Goodwin was successful in finding a way of feeding the patient that did not involve live chickens and rats.

“We decided to find out whether the patient could subsist on stored blood. Doctor Goodwin performed the experiment as we wanted her associate to him with food, a positive reinforcement as she is extremely defensive around men. At first Doctor Goodwin joined me in the patient’s cell while orderlies waited in the corridor as a precaution. Initially the patient was guarded and on the next feeding day, we entered the patient’s cell with Goodwin bringing bottles of ox blood provided by a nearby farm. He opened one of the bottles and poured the blood into a saucer. The patient accepted the saucer and drank the blood. That was a week ago and Doctor Goodwin has brought in one other blood meal on his own. Our plan is to see how fresh the blood needs to be and for now we are following the TIH schedule Doctor Sutton implemented. But, we plan to vary the schedule as well to see how often she needs to feed.”

“TIH?” asked Bryant.

“She means three times a week. TIH is latin for Ter In Hebdomade” Ackerman answered curtly.

“Thank you doctor Ackerman.”

“We also plan to work on transferring the rapport she has developed with Dr. Goodwin to other males.” 

“Doctor Van Helsing, providing the patient picture books was a nice idea. But you are supposed to be teaching the patient about the Court. That is what we are striving for is it not?” asked Warren who leaned towards her with the scent of stale alcohol on his breath. 

“Attorney Warren, immediately on taking this case, I researched the subject of evaluating competency for criminal proceedings and found there is no specific methodology which can be applied to the patient. What I found is competency evaluations for the mentally retarded are limited in scope as the defendant is usually committed by the Court to an institution. However, to answer your question, I’ve been showing the patient a book written for child witnesses which explains the roles of people in a courtroom. I can’t say at this time whether she understands the charges she is facing and more importantly whether she understands she is presumed innocent in eyes of the Court. But, I am continuing with that line of work which is why I want request an additional four weeks.” 

“Is there anything else to report at this time?” Ackerman asked.

Van Helsing paused and considered the journal she kept locked in her car. She was a diarist and habitually wrote down the day’s events, including those involving the patient which she did not report to the Superintendent and only Adam knew the incredible events of the previous night 

“Adam, I don’t know what to think,” she blurted out as soon a she heard his voice.

“I think I’m going crazy. But, I don’t think Ella is human.”

“It’s alright Eve, you aren’t crazy.” He replied.

“Thanks, but you’re going to think I’m crazy after I tell you what happened tonight. I was reading Ella a couple chapters from the “Secret Garden”. I don’t know if I told. But, Emily used to love it when I read to her.” 

“Yes, said she was precocious and you told you how you and Aaron allowed her to stay up late one night to watch the Shirley Temple on TV.”

“She said she preferred the book,” Eve said to her brother with a tear in her eye, “Everyone went home, it was just Ella, and me in her cell with the door open and the evening shift in the office. Ella suddenly stood up. She’s never done that before and she pointed to the moon. It had just risen high enough to be seen through the cell window. She looked at me and said “Moon.”

“Isn’t that the first time she said anything on her own?”

“Yes. So I told her, yes it was the moon and then she said “Doctor Eve’s earth has one moon”. I told her yes and then she said “Ella’s earth has two moons.” Adam whistled and replied he didn’t think his sister was crazy and they discussed Ella’s statement surmising different reasons why the young girl would say such a thing. 

Van Helsing looked Ackerman in the eye with a straight back. 

“No Doctor Ackerman, I have nothing more to report.”

“Based on your observations do you concur with the patient’s diagnosis as formulated by Doctor Sutton and myself?” he pointedly asked.

“I believe it is premature for me to issue a diagnosis at this time. However, I do not agree the patient is Profoundly Retarded. I find the patient is of at least average intelligence and may have had some education although given her communication deficits and apparent lack of socialization it was more likely limited and informal. She does not show signs of psychopathy and she’s posed minimal risk with no behavioral incidents for last two weeks despite the elimination of sedation and shackles. I believe her discomfort around men and not engaging in conversation except to answer questions is due to a severe traumatic shock. Still, I believe she’s shown extraordinary adaptive resiliency and as I’ve already requested, I would like another four weeks to develop as thorough understanding of the patient’s capacities as possible. ” 

“Doubtlessly, Doctor Van Helsing, but I beg to differ. From what I see, the patient is as ready as she will ever be. You mention she can repeat words from children’s books, which is symptomatic of Echolalia. You’ve told us and have noted she does not initiate conversation and she refuses to take standardized tests of intelligence and adaptive behaviors. Additionally I read in your reports that except for her calling you “Doctor Eve” she does not refer to other people by name or title. This indicates she has significant neurological deficits. Doubtlessly the scribble which you believe is an example of her intelligence was likely something she had seen and doubtlessly it is your imagination that interpreted it as an image of a water molecule. 

“Doubtlessly”

“Thank you Doctor Van Helsing, you can go. I’ll inform you of our decision.” 

Van Helsing stood up. But she didn’t leave.

“Excuse me Doctor Ackerman, are you saying you are considering my patient’s course of treatment without me. That’s ethically irresponsible and you know it. Do you want to know what my finding is? I find no one in this room has considered the patient’s wellbeing. The beatings and torture inflicted on her before I was assigned her case is as barbaric as treatment in a Nazi Death Camp.”

“You shouldn’t get upset Dr. Van Helsing, we are here for the patient’s best interests” replied a condescending Bryant who held another lit cigarette balanced between the fingers of her right hand. 

“What do you know about Ella’s best interests” snapped Van Helsing “you’ve never seen her in person.”

“That’s enough Doctor Van Helsing, you are dismissed,” Ackerman barked, “Joanie, show the Doctor out.”

“I don’t need anyone to show me out.” Van Helsing replied as she turned on her heels and left the room, slamming the door behind her with a rattling crash. 

It took two cigarettes to calm Van Helsing down. She smoked one down to its filter as she drove her car to the Hall and the other as she sat in her car listening to the Rolling Stones. She knew her outburst would give Ackerman the excuse he needed to give her the sack. 

“Checkmate,” she said to herself. 

30  
  



	6. Angel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unexpected revelations

When Van Helsing walked into the Sue, Archie Goodwin and Fiona Dillman, the new nurse on the team were waiting for her. Unlike Robbins, the thirty-something strawberry blonde RN had a youthful freckled face and ready smile. She did not wear a cap and her uniform was as stylish as anyone dared to wear at the hospital. 

“Eve, Nurse Robbins left us.” 

“Did she say why and what time she’ll be back?” Van Helsing asked. 

“No, that’s just it. She won’t be back. There was a family emergency and she had to leave. ”

“That’s unfortunate. I hope whatever it is, it’s not terribly serious. She might be a little…tight. But, I liked working with her and Ella liked her as well. Fiona, it looks like you are going to have to carry on as charge nurse and on your third day too.”

“Thank you Doctor Van Helsing. I won’t let you down.” 

With Robbins’ departure, the aides and nurses including Fiona and a grey haired LPN were on edge. They and Van Helsing had seen patients suddenly increase aggressive behaviors after even the smallest change in their routine and Nurse Robbins’ leaving was more than a small change. Although strict, Nurse Robbins was well-liked by everyone and one of the aides immediately brought in an uplifting card for everyone to sign and slip in a donation for a collection. Van Helsing gave the aide five dollars and suggested she could get Robbin’s address from hospital’s personnel office. The aide thanked the doctor for her generous donation and said she knew she could send the card to Robbins’ sister who owned a New Haven Hair Salon.

The rest of the shift was uneventful. Even though Van Helsing felt pre-occupied with being dismissed she compiled notes and prepared her daily report. Then just as the day shift ended, Ackerman called. Anticipating the order to leave, she was surprised when he said she had the additional four weeks to work with the patient and Joanie would notify her of the next meeting in the morning. Visibly relieved Van Helsing shared the news with Goodwin as he prepared to leave for the evening with Fiona. She then finished her daily report, using the “Selectric” to type it on carbon paper. She signed the report, three hole punched the copy for the binder and slipped the original into an inter-department envelope. With the evening shift settled in their routine, Van Helsing decided wind down by reading Ella another chapter of the “Secret Garden” before she left. 

It was dark outside the cell window when she finished and returned to the office for her jacket before she took one last look at Ella through the cell door’s view slot. She watched young girl sitting on the edge of her bed looking through a copy of “LOOK” magazine. Satisfied the night would be uneventful Van Helsing wished the evening shift staff well and walked up the stairs to the Hall’s main floor, opening the heavy door to the building’s foyer with a massive brass skeleton key. She said good night to security guard in his booth and pushed open the Hall’s main entrance door. Van Helsing immediately felt the night’s crisp on her forehead. She started walking to the parking lot when she saw her car’s interior light was on. 

“Eve, are you all right? I’ve been calling all night.” Adam asked when she finally got home.

“I just got in. My car was broken into, I had to call the police and everything is a mess. Someone stole the Phillips, they just tore it out the dashboard.”

The ‘Phillips’ was a gift from her husband Aaron. Not only did it have an FM receiver and stereo speakers placed behind the back, it included a cassette player which he said was the future of music listening. Fortunately the tapes of he made for her of her favorite music had not been taken from under the car seat. But the bag was another matter 

“Don’t worry Eve you can get a new radio, anything else missing?”

“Yes my bag with my journal and few pictures.” 

“I’m sure who ever stole the bag will toss it as soon as they find you don’t keep valuables in it. I bet it will be found tomorrow in the parking lot or a trash bin. Anyway, I have something to tell you. Do you have a minute?”

“Adam, I’m exhausted. Can it wait until tomorrow?”

Adam replied he would call the next day and wished Eve goodnight. She hung up the phone and fell asleep on the living room couch still wearing her clothes and shoes. 

Ella knew her situation had changed before the aides knew it. Even when sleeping Ella knew what was going on around and she heard the electric click of someone on another floor putting the building’s freight elevator in motion. Doctor Eve and the other humans saw her as one of them, despite Ella telling her doctor she was not from earth. But they were wrong. Ella’s senses were much greater than theirs, so much so, it would be like comparing the sun with the single bulb that lit her cell. Her hearing was so acute that even when her cell door was closed, she easily discerned whispered gossip from the far end of the Sue’s single long corridor. What Doctor Eve and the others couldn’t know was Ella had been learning human speak even before she was incarcerated. Not only did she piece together meaning from listening to their conversations and Doctor Eve’s reading from her books, Ella had an ability humans lacked altogether. She could read their souls and cloud their thoughts. It was a skill her people had which took practice and Ella was still a young practitioner. But, she had enough of the ability to interrogate Doctor Eve and other humans without them realizing or remembering. The exception was Goodwin. She could cloud his mind and manipulate him as she could the others and she saw how his soul was filled with lies within lies. Yet she could not prompt him to say anything more than “Ordo Apes.” 

Nurse Robbins’ leaving was the first sign something was going to happen. Then after Doctor Eve left and Ella saw how the red lights flashing through the cell’s narrow barred window were police cars gathered around Doctor Eve and her vehicle Ella knew there was change in her situation. She prepared herself to leave. The sun had just started painting the horizon when the ‘Hall’s’ service elevator finished its descent and its door slid up.

Ella kept her eyes shut, a good hunter waits and Ella was a good hunter.

“Ella, Ella, wake up. It’s me, Doctor Goodwin”

Ella slowly sat up from the mat on the floor she slept on and rubbed her eyes. 

“Ella, Doctor Eve wants us to take you to her.” Goodwin said through the open cell door enouncing each word as if he was speaking to a baby. 

“Ella, we are going to take you to Doctor Eve. Do you understand Ella?”

“Yes Doctor”

“Doctor Eve is not here. We will take you on a ride to see her. Do you understand Ella?”

“Yes Doctor”

“Good, Doctor Eve wants you to look your best. Aides please get Ella ready to see Doctor Eve.”

Two aides entered the cell and brought fresh clothes, a light brown rough cotton pullover shirt, matching elastic waist pants, underpants and a pair of rubber soled canvas slippers. Goodwin left with the nurse. Ella saw several orderlies standing the doorway and heard the shuffling of others beyond her view. 

The two women fuss encouragingly with the patient as she washed her face in the sink and changed. Suddenly everyone froze in place.

“Aide, tell me what is happening?” Ella asked the older of the two women. 

“We don’t know. Doctor Goodwin just showed up and he brought the orderlies and four Sheriffs with him” was the reply.

“Thank you” said Ella.

“Oh Ella you are so lucky you are leaving on a trip to see Dr. Eve” the other aide said as if nothing unusual had happened. Shortly after Ella finished dressing, Goodwin returned with the nurse carrying a tray. He spoke softly to her with soft lying eyes. 

“Ella, I have to give you medicine for the ride. I know you do not like medicine. But, Doctor Eve said I have to give it to you. Do you understand?”

“Yes Doctor.”

“Please hold out your arm.”

“Yes Doctor”

Ella could have easily made him inject himself and no one in or outside of the room would have known how it happened. But she played the trusting child and slowly extended an arm. She watched with dispassionate eyes as “Nurse” held it steady with one hand and with the other, wiped a patch of skin with a cool alcohol soaked cotton ball. Goodwin quickly moved in and inserted the contents of the first of two glass syringes into her. When he finished, he stood back and two aides helped the nurse to the side of the bed.

“Ella, I will be back to get you ready for your ride” he said with a toothy grin. He turned to Fiona and added, “It’ll take a few minutes for maximum effect so wait here with the orderlies.” 

Ella’s head dropped heavily onto her chest and she slowly slumped backwards against the cool concrete wall. It was an act, her body had ago adapted to their “medicines” and they had no effect on her.

Goodwin returned with a stethoscope and pronounced the patient was ready. He shooed the aides and nurse to leave and immediately four burly officers in grey uniforms and brass badges all armed with revolvers and batons, entered the cell accompanied by trio of equally large orderlies. Orderlies who were not among the men chosen by Robbins. 

“Ella, Doctor Eve told me to put the shackles on you for your ride. Do you understand?”

“Yeh” Ella murmured with rolled eyes and limp body. 

A wheelchair was brought to the cell. The young patient was quickly bound wrist and ankle with leather cuffs and chain. She was then lifted from the bed and onto the chair. As she was rolled out of the cell to the freight elevator she heard an aide’s quiet sobs. 

Even with her eyes closed, Ella sensed where the three men who guarded her were in the back of a closed truck. She had been placed on a bench seat and strapped to a wall. One guard sat on one side of her, another on the other side and the third sat across from her. The forth one was driving and she heard when she was being loaded that Goodwin was following them to the “Court House.” 

Once the truck started to roll the guard to Ella’s left joked about his charge. He kept asking the others, if they thought she had already been plucked and commenting it was too bad they had to bring her straight to court. At one point he leaned close to her ear and whispered a lewd remark about her body. One of the others told him to calm down and there ensued an argument about who was giving the orders. Occasionally when the truck turned a tight corner the lecherous guard would grip her upper thigh as if he was steadying himself. But Ella kept her eyes closed and head on her chest as she waited for her opportunity. 

After a while, the vehicle came to a stop and backed up. The engine was turned off and suddenly the back door was thrown opened by the fourth guard. Cool early morning air filled the stuffy compartment. 

“Time to go Missy” one of the guards said as a companion tossed the wheelchair out. The straps holding Ella to the seat were undone and she was picked up under her arms and dragged to the doorway by the guard who had sat on her left; his fingers gripping her chest from behind, thumbs feeling her curled wings. The other two climbed outside and joined the driver. The sun had just risen through the trees and as Ella was balanced on door’s threshold, she noticed the truck was surrounded by a tall chain link fence on two sides and the Court House’s back door on the third. Suddenly Ella was pushed off the truck. As she fell she twisted and as she twisted she grabbed the guard behind her by the belt of his pants and threw him at his two companions. His flying body bowled them over and his neck bent when he landed in such a manner that he would not get back up. The driver reached for his holstered weapon, but he was too slow. Ella hit the ground, snapped the chain that bound her wrists, grabbed the man’s weapon and twisted his hand completely around. There was a dull crunch and he stared incomprehensibly until a scream rose from his throat. He dropped the weapon and fell back against the fence clutching the ruined wrist. Ella snapped the chain between her ankles and leapt up as she did, she kicked his head back against the diamond wire links to give herself the momentum to reach the top of the fence. She paused long enough before she dropped to the ground to tear the cuffs off her wrists and ankles. 

Ella ran across the still damp parking lot as she did she kicked off the canvas shoes. Barefoot, she sprinted down a nearby street. Ella recognized the Court House and the other buildings as the small town near the cave she hid in when she arrived on Earth. During the short time Ella lived wild she explored the area from the air and knew there was a quiet side street of houses nearby. With little time to make her escape she turned a corner and sprinted down the middle of tree lined street past tall wooden houses. Ella turned again and ran past parked cars on a narrow drive. She came to a wood plank fence which concealed the yard behind it and leapt. She easily cleared it and found herself behind a tall brick house with rickety porches stacked over each other. Ella tore off her shirt and wrapped it around her waist so it would not be found. Then with a deep breath she opened her wings. 

“Are you an angel?” a young boy asked from a porch step. He put down the kitten he had been holding a stared at Ella with wide eyes. Ella smiled at him as she thrust her wings against the air to rise from the ground.

“Yes”

The child gave a wide grin and as soon as she disappeared among the trees and into the blue sky he ran into his home shouting joyously,

“Momma, momma, I saw an Angel and she’s black like me.”

Ella’s skin tingled as she soared high above the still sleepy town. She wasn’t concerned about being seen by her pursuers or passerby. Like the men of her world, humans only saw what they wanted to see and she would appear to them by day as a bird or an aircraft and at night as a bat, or shooting star or like the little boy an angel. She soared back to the stone Court house and settled into the tall narrow steeple of a white church immediately across a green tree lined square from it. From her blind Ella watched the commotion grow as police cars drove up and down the streets and searchers scurried about like chickens when a fox enters their pen. 

Doctor Eve’s Yellow Bug suddenly pulled up in front of the Court. Curious, Ella watched her doctor jump out and race into the building. She trusted Doctor Eve and saw from her vantage point how her face was set in fierce anger. Ella suddenly knew where she could go. With a thrust she launched herself from the steeple and into the cool morning sky. 

Van Helsing was furious. She arrived at the Hall and was told by a tearful aide Ella had been taken away in a ‘Sheriff’s van’ and Doctor Goodwin left with them. Angry and feeling betrayed she sped through the hospital grounds and the nearby sleepy river town to turn her car onto the recently completed interstate highway. Heedless of the speed limit and her car’s engine she roared west to the Court House. Once off the highway she ignored signs and red lights until her car squealed to a stop at her destination. She immediately sprinted inside and saw in its lobby Goodwin surrounded by an imposing group of Sheriff Deputies, local police and State Troopers. He saw her and motioned her to come join them. 

“Captain, this is Doctor Eva Van Helsing, the prisoner’s physician”

“How dare you Goodwin. Where’s Ella?”

“She escaped.” he tried to continue. But Van Helsing did not want to hear him out. She returned to her car and drove back to the hospital. She would have it out with Ackerman and then go to the papers. 

Joanie wasn’t in the outer office when she arrived and the door to the inner office was open. Van entered without knocking, her fists clenched with white knuckles.

“Doctor Van Helsing…” Ackerman started to say something but she cut him off with an expletive. She was about to continue her tirade when she noticed Frazetta calmly sitting at a round table Ackerman used for intimate meetings with his subordinates. 

“Dr. Ackerman, leave us. You will be told when you can come back.” Frazetta said in a calm Italian accented voice. Ackerman obediently stood up at his desk and sheepishly avoided Van Helsing’s gaze as he left the room slowly closing the door behind him. 

“Please sit down Doctor Van Helsing. We have a lot to talk about.”

“What are we going to talk about? Ella is gone and I’m going to the papers.” Van Helsing retorted as she turned to leave.

“Do you want to know why you were chosen to be the patient’s doctor?”

Van Helsing stopped and answered without looking back.

“I know, it is because I am a woman.”

“No Doctor Van Helsing. You were recommended by your brother.” 

Eve was distressed by discussion that followed and what Frazetta told her. There was no reason for her to return to the hall and instead of going home, she drove to the beach near the cottage she and her husband once owned. The tidy beachfront bungalow wasn’t much smaller than her house and it was where she, her husband and daughter spent long lazy summers. It was originally owned by his parents who sold it to him when they left for Florida. Eve sold the property after her family’s death and her last visit there was to scatter their ashes to an outgoing tide from the end of a nearby barnacle encrusted stone jetty. 

She parked at the end of the street which led to the quay and lit a cigarette before immediately butting it out. Eve desperately wanted to call Adam as she gazed at a nearby payphone and she left her car. But, instead of calling her brother, she sat on the sand at the edge of the tide line and cried as the sun set behind her and the day grew cold. Finally she got up and walked to the payphone, slipped in a dime and made a collect call. 

Eve arrived home to a dark house. She walked into the kitchen and let the moon’s glow guide her into the living room and the stairs to her bedroom. The phone rang and she paused. She did not pick it up. She let it ring and when the ringing stopped continued through the living room to the stairs. Suddenly she noticed a shadowy form on the couch and as she reached for the room’s light switch she heard a familiar voice. 

“Doctor Eve, please leave the light off” 

30  
  



	7. Pictures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bribe and renewed vows

Adam Van Helsing held his breath as he manipulated the door’s cylinder lock with twin wire picks. Lacking a locksmith’s finesse, the few seconds it took for him to line up its pins seemed like minutes as he crouched on the second floor back porch blatantly exposed in the midmorning sun to anyone who cared to look up. Then with the hot anticipation of a burglar hearing an alarm he turned the lock’s plug and exhaled. Adam twisted the door knob and after a quick cautious glance to make sure there were no witnesses he opened the door. With his travel bag in one hand he slid into dimly lit kitchen. 

Adam had been watching the coming and goings of his sister’s killer for almost a week. Even though he wasn’t a Private Investigator he knew the tricks of hidden surveillance as he blended in with the jostling crowds of meandering holidaymakers preparing to celebrate Mardi-Gras in the “Big Easy” He was surprised the vampire made no effort to hide and it took him a couple days to find it holed up in a shabby Bourbon Street apartment above a seedy bar with a dark raw boned old man whose bald pate was framed by a fringe of tightly curled grey hair and scraggy goatee. 

From a bribe to a gossipy tattered ‘B-Girl’ whose thick makeup failed hide age cracks and whose over powering perfume could not disguise the stench of her rotten teeth and booze, he learned the old man was known locally as “Pend”. Accompanied by a warbling jukebox playing “I got fifteen miles to go” the old whore told Adam between gulps of cheap liquor that “Ol’ Pendy” was a neighborhood Voodoo practitioner who sold potions and charms and read fortunes to both tourists and believers. 

“De say his momma was a Voodoo priestess and his daddy a gypsy” the prostitute said as she poured liquor from the bottle Adam brought her from the bar into a tumbler. She took a swig and coyly slipped the twenty dollar bill he gave her under her brassiere. She explained how the story was that he was from the Islands and had been a stage magician before the “War”. But, he spent most of his time in local bars, particularly the one below his apartment. 

“Even stone drunk he can take a rube at cards and pick their pocket before they leave the table an see dis gree-gree?” She asked as she pointed to a beaten copper disc the size of a silver dollar nestled by a leather necklace in the ruin of her cleavage. She plucked it out and held it under Adam’s nose. He saw the disk was inscribed with a circle intersected by lines and circles. 

“I did Ol’ Pendy a favor and he made it for me. Good luck charm he said and I’ve had good luck ever since. Made twenty easy from you it did. Anyways, as I said, he went north and came back with his granddaughter, Alia after Thanksgiving,” she took another swig “That liddle Bo is never far from Ol’ Pendy, always got her books and she’s mannered too, you ain’t seen anyone so well mannered. The kids today aint got manners, all that long hair, going without their bras, giving away for free what can make them money. Well that Alia is mannered and has the sweetest accent too. Don’t know where it comes from an I’ve heard them all, if you know what I mean. I dare say she’s a charmer” 

Adam’s first encounter with his quarry came the following day when he “tailed” the vampire and companion from their apartment to a nearby liquor store. He observed the old man in his rumpled white linen jacket and his “granddaughter” snake through a milling crowd of late afternoon revelers. The vampire looked like a typical lanky teenager in its stylish tie-dyed fringed poncho and denims cut short above the knees, red high top basketball sneakers and Afro. Adam knew from a receipt he found at his sister’s house, the Afro was a wig that hid her shaved head. It was that receipt which help to lead him to his quarry. 

When they left the store, he followed the two from across the street. On the way back they joined a “Krewe” of top hatted musicians and accompanying celebrants in an impromptu parade. Adam watched the vampire accept a string of beads from a scraggly blonde girl with a painted face and wondered what the hippie would say if she knew the girl accepting her gift had a pair of leathery wings under its poncho. 

Adam kept an eye on the apartment for the next several days. Even with the growing holiday crowds it was easy to watch them during the day. The vampire was always in the company of the old man as they made daily jaunts to the liquor store and market or an occasional walk to a nearby branch of the public library or used bookstore. But at night, he couldn’t see if the creature left to hunt at night and every morning he expected a splash on the front page of the Times-Picayune announcing a torn throat, blood drained victim had been found somewhere in the city. Then again, the nearby bayou and canals would easily accommodate any number of bodies and who would miss a prostitute or bum. The creature had a good place to find victims and Adam knew he had to work fast to stop it. By the morning of Fat Tuesday, he was ready to avenge his sister and he put his plan in motion as soon as they walked down the bead strewn street.

The apartment next door was empty and bar below still closed when he shut the kitchen door and relocked it. Except for the sound of a passing car and the dull drone of the apartment’s refrigerator the place was silent and dark. Set on the building’s corner the flat consisted of three rooms set one after the other “Shotgun style” except for the bathroom which was set off from the kitchen. Each room had a single window on the outside wall except for the kitchen and the third room which had second windows. The kitchen’s second window faced the brick wall of a building across an alley and the last room window faced Bourbon Street. All of the windows were covered by thick shades which prevented the day from entering. The rooms were small, except for the bathroom which Adam could tell from its open door was exceedingly tiny with barely enough room to shoehorn a toilet, a sink and claw footed tub. The sparsely furnished kitchen wasn’t much larger. The room’s centerpiece was a white enamel topped table with chipped white curving legs under a ceiling fan and light’s pull chain. The table was complemented by a pair of matching rail back chairs. Standing sentinel on either side of the back door, there was a battered gas stove with oversized wrought iron burners and the refrigerator with its top mounted condenser. Next to the bathroom door under a dingy yellow green metal cabinet a ceramic sink with dripping faucet was full of empty wine and liquor bottles which competed for space with dirty dishes. Under the sink there was a rubbish bin, its top secured by a tin lid. There was a darkly stained wood hutch on the opposite wall from the sink, its counter and shelves crowded with hand labeled jars of mysterious substances, packs of tarot cards and piles of paper. The table was also cluttered with stacked empty Chinese takeout boxes, empty glasses, an overflowing ashtray, crushed cigarette packs, unopened mail and an unopened pack of playing cards. 

When Adam stepped into the second room, he immediately caught a sweet scent in the air. Flickering light came from twin burning candles jammed in wine bottles which bookended a primitive shrine set on top of a Victorian era side table. The shrine featured a pair of crucifixes, a plate with a piece of stale bread, a half-filled shot glass, figure of the Virgin and a picture of a young woman surrounded by images of saints cut from some book and tacked to the wall. Even though Adam was a member of the Ordo Apes, a clandestine religious community dedicated to hunt vampires and other creatures of darkness he was not dogmatic. The same studies which led him to join the Order taught him the truisms of myth and Adam felt sorry for the deluded old man. 

“As deluded as Eve was” Adam thought as he offered a silent prayer for her soul and forgiveness for the innocent’s life he would soon take. 

In one corner a worn-out armchair with torn upholstery faced an old black and white portable television topped by bent foil covered rabbit ear antenna and set on a silver steamer trunk next to a flouted weathered brass floor lamp. Under the room’s window a threadbare couch with flattened cushions, rumpled blanket and crumpled stained pillow looked as if it was someone’s bed. 

The third room, the bedroom was the only room besides the bathroom with a door that separated it from the rest of the apartment. It like the kitchen had door, which opened to the building’s Bourbon Street second floor gallery. Along one wall there was a narrow bed topped by a bare mattress covered with dozens of books. Curious, Adam surveyed the covers of the eclectic assortment of hard cover and “paperback” tomes. There was a book on calculus and one on chemistry. There were popular titles like the recently published “I Know Why the Cage Bird Sings” and Kirk Vonnegut’s ‘Slaughterhouse-Five’ a book Eve sent to Adam as a gift on their shared birthday. There was an opened copy of the King James Bible laid faced down next to a French translation of Marx’s Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy, along with dictionaries in different languages and volumes from a tattered pre-war Encyclopedia. 

In a corner stood a match to the chairs in the kitchen and propped against it a rolled up bamboo sleeping mat. The last piece of furniture in the room was an oversized bureau with beaded corners and matching mirror. Unlike the kitchen table and hutch, the bureau top was neatly organized. On it was a makeup case, a hair pick and a wig block in the shape of a bald head. The wig block was all the proof Adam needed that the girl he had been stalking was the vampire. There was another clue, a framed picture of a rakish young man standing with obvious pride in a white broad shouldered double breasted suit accompanied by an equally young woman in stylish pre-war clothes with a tiny baby in her arms. The couple and baby stood in front of a street level theater marquee with large garish letters announcing “One Week Only, The Great Pendragon”. It was the same picture Adam saw on a wall in the hair salon. A second picture, a Polaroid wedged in the mirror’s frame caught Adam’s attention. He picked it up and examined it. In the photo, taken at the Salon the vampire wearing her wig stared at the camera with a bright smile. Standing next to the creature, also smiling was his sister. 

“Godverdomme” cursed Adam in his native Dutch, “what kind of creature would keep a picture of its victim?” Angrily, he crumpled the photo and threw it against the wall and as he did he renewed his vow to kill the vampire. 

-30-


	8. Scattered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The telling of the final tale

In the dusky light of the apartment Adam Van Helsing worked fast to prepare for its occupants’ return. He checked the bedroom windows to see if they were locked. They weren’t and he carefully moved the window shades to avoid being seen by pedestrians as he twisted each sash hasp. After he locked the windows Adam made sure the door to the gallery was locked. Although he knew from his surveillance his targets used the back porch for their comings and goings, he did not want anyone to enter the apartment from its street entrance without breaking in. He closed the door to the center room and used the bedroom’s chair as a brace. Satisfied he wouldn’t be attacked from behind; Adam moved the kitchen table and one of the two chairs to create an unobstructed kill zone. He brought the other chair into the center room, placed the floor lamp next to it and removed the lampshade. 

With everything in place, Adam placed his travel bag on the chair and unzipped it. He removed a vicious looking MAC 10 along with its suppressor and the two fully loaded thirty round ammunition magazines. With stock folded, the boxy looking submachine gun wasn’t much bigger than a colt automatic pistol. But, it was a particularly nasty weapon. Set to full automatic, the gun would unload a full clip forty-five caliber steel jacketed hollow point bullets in less than two seconds. No matter how fast the vampire could move, it would be chopped down up by a deadly lead hailstorm. Adam threaded the suppressor to the weapon’s muzzle, snapped a clip in place and unfolded the gun’s stock. He then dropped the extra clip into an empty jacket pocket. In his jacket’s other pocket was the Walther PPK automatic pistol he would use in case the job wasn’t finished and if necessary to end his own life. Adam tossed the empty bag on the couch and slipped on his mirror sunglasses as a precaution against the vampire’s “evil eye”. Finally ready, he sat down. Then with a resolute jerk he pulled the gun’s bolt back and set the weapon to full automatic. He glanced at his watch and its luminescent hands and numerals told him it was just before ten o’clock in the morning. Adam began his wait and as he did, he pulled a thin gold wedding band from his shirt pocket and turned it over with his fingers. He thought of Eve and the phone call. 

The eventful call came after two o’clock in the morning and woke him up. With a six hour difference it was just past eight where Eve lived and he answered the phone with a surge of happiness. Eve had not called in weeks. The last time she did, it was a collect call the day the vampire escaped and after she learned from Frazetta that Adam, a member of the Ordo Apes recommended Eve as the vampire’s Doctor. 

“How can I ever trust you again? You knew about Ella from the beginning and don’t say you didn’t know. You knew and you didn’t tell me.” she accused him in Dutch over the crackling phone line. 

“I’m sorry Eve, I was pledged to secrecy. But, now you know how important the work is. The fate of the world rests in the Order’s hands. It is the Order that separates us from the creatures of Hell.”

“They want me to track Ella down with them,” Eve replied ignoring him and switching to English. She added “they want her locked up, they are going vivisect her like those poor children in the Death Camps…and I’m sure you know I’ve been threatened with arrest if I go to the papers.” In response Adam explained he wasn’t aware and encouraged her accept Frazetta’s offer to join the Order. But Eve wouldn’t listen and she abruptly slammed the receiver down. Adam waited until he thought she returned home and called her back. She didn’t answer and she continued to ignore his calls for several days.

Frazetta warned Adam of his sister’s outrage. Eve was under the creature’s influence. But, she would come to her senses with time. Adam desperately wanted to see Eve. She was in pain and her anger made the distance all the greater. When Adam told his mentor he would come to America on the next flight, Frazetta said it was a good idea. But, he should do it once his sister was calmer.

“It would be best. Seeing you while she is still in the creature’s thrall will only make her angrier. She needs time to rest and I’ve made arrangements for her to be watched. What about making plans to come to the states in the couple weeks? There is no threat from creature. It has left the state and gone west.” 

After several days, she began to accept Adam‘s calls. But, Eve had changed. She was curt and their conversation ended almost immediately. Adam decided he would begin his leave of absence as soon as the University found a replacement lecturer and he would go to America and not return until he could bring his sister back with him. 

The caller wasn’t Eve. The voice on the other end was the slightly accented English of his friend, Father Umberto De Medici Frazetta, Society of Jesus, Medical Doctor and Operator of Ordo Apes.

“Adam, there has been a terrible tragedy, your sister is dead. She was killed by the vampire. I’m sorry my friend,” the voice paused “please forgive me for not telling you sooner and please take solace in knowing her soul is at peace with our Lord and Savior.” 

“What… How could it happen?” Adam stumbled. He had been assured him his sister was not in danger. If he had known otherwise, he would have flown to the States heedless of her anger and the Order’s advice. Adam clutched the phone receiver like a drowning man as he heard over a poor connection Frazetta say the vampire had taken his sister hostage and killed her during a rescue attempt. Phone went silent. Adam didn’t know what to say and after a moment, Frazetta to have a parish priest go over to his apartment to be with him. Adam declined the offer and told Frazetta all he wanted to do was to leave for America as soon as possible. Frazetta explained arrangements were being made for him to take the first available flight. 

Adam met the priest one summer when he was still a student and they were both attending a seminar in Zurich taught by Carl Jung. Adam had been staying in a crowded hostel and he welcomed the opportunity to join a small group of other scholars at a nearby tavern. Frazetta who was older than everyone else often led the group’s lively discussions and Adam immediately liked the cassocked priest’s company. One night after the other members of their convivial association had left to return to their quarters, Adam and Frazetta shared a couple half liters of Roggnebier in a private booth. They discussed Jung’s ideas of synchronicity in mythology as the logs in the nearby fireplace burned low. But, after a couple rounds their musings turned to possible meanings for legendary winged creatures, including dragons, demons and angels. 

“What do you know about vampires?” 

“You mean like Bram Stoker’s Dracula? Frankly the book is a bit dry for me. I read it when I was young and I thought Lugosi’s performance was a bit over the top.”

“No, no Adam” Frazetta replied as he sipped from his mug, “I mean real vampires.”

“Well, I agree with the theory it was the effects of TB that brought on the vampire myth. The wasting away of consumption has been documented for centuries. My sister who as I mentioned is training to be a doctor is keenly interested in Tuberculous as there was a Sanitarium not from our home and our father treated some of the patients.”

“Let me show you something. Do you of Vlad the Impailer?” 

Frazetta opened up a portfolio and produced a photo-copy of a renaissance painting featuring a young dark eyed man with long black hair and thick moustache wearing a bejeweled turban like crown. Adam took a quaff from his mug. He answered he had seen the picture in a book and read how the cruel Romanian prince was known as a champion of the Romanian Christians for his fight against Muslims despite his reputation for impaling his living victims on spikes. 

“It is a gruesome legacy. But, have you seen this image. This one was done during Vlad’s lifetime. It was completed at the request of Pope Sixtus the Fourth and the original is kept in the Vatican’s achieves.”

Frazetta handed Van Helsing a second photo-copied image and in the tavern’s low light Adam, saw it was a lance carrying horse rider with long jet black hair who wore a silver Cuirass and twin flowing capes. Unlike the first painting, the rider did not have a moustache. Then when Adam suddenly realized the rider was a she and her capes were wings he almost knocked his mug to the floor.

A couple days after receiving Frazetta’s call and condolences, Adam arrived at New York’s JFK airport, where he was met by Frazetta and another member of the Order. The two were dressed in somber grey business suits, looking more like businessmen than members of a religious community. Frazetta’s dark skinned companion who he introduced as Asad somberly took Adam’s luggage while Frazetta gave his friend a heartfelt hug. With Asad driving the Lincoln Executive limousine to Adam’s hotel, Frazetta sat with his friend and handed over a folder sized sealed envelope explaining it was the file on Eve’s death. He warned Adam it included graphic pictures of her corpse which was already cremated according to Adam’s cabled instructions as was her wishes. 

“Can you tell more what happened? I can’t remember much of our conversation.”

“Of course dear brother, in the folder you’ll see two reports. One is the official document prepared for the authorities. It reads Eve died suddenly at home from an undiagnosed heart condition. The other report was done for the Order and our FBI friends. It tells how the vampire was holding your sister. How long we can’t say. But we did keep an eye on Eve as you know. We wanted to make she was able to get professional attention if she needed it. But, somehow and we don’t know how, the creature got through to her undetected. I daresay as soon as we found out we set up a plan with the FBI to rescue Eve. We acted fast which is why we didn’t tell you beforehand. But, I wished we did. During the rescue the creature attacked your sister and escaped.” 

The two sat in silence for the rest of the ride. Adam absorbed in his thoughts as Frazetta fingered his rosary. Later, in his hotel, Adam read the reports and saw the horrific pictures of Eve’s torn thorax and ventral trunk; pictures that set a match to his desire for vengeance. 

Adam spent only enough time in America to make sure the dissolution of his sister’s property was taken care of by her attorney. When they met, Adam was given the key to her home along with an envelope of the effects she had on when she was killed, a Timex watch with worn down movement, their mother’s necklace, a pair of inexpensive earrings and her wedding ring. He stopped by the mortuary and picked up Eve’s ashes before he had dinner with Frazetta. He told his friend he was going to the house one more time and once he dispersed her remains in ocean as she requested years before. Frazetta asked if he wanted company when he went to the beach.

“There are some prayers I can say that can give you solace.”

“Thank you Father. I will be alright. I am sure you have a lot to do searching for the creature. I wish I could help. But, I know what the answer will be.” 

Adam knew the Order would not let him join the search for the creature and when Frazetta asked what his plans were he said he would return to Europe and take a leave of absence to think. But, Adam’s search for Eve’s killer began immediately after he scattered her ashes from the same jetty she dispersed those of her husband and daughter. His pledge to avenge her death with his life was witnessed by a single gull which left its perch and soared away on a chilly sea breeze. 

As Adam had told his friend, he returned one last time to sister’s home to gather pictures and a few other items he did not want sold or discarded. Frazetta told him the FBI searched the cottage immediately after the incident and he was disturbed by the condition they left the once trim and tidy home in. Nothing was broken. But, drawers were left open, their contents strewn about haphazardly and clothes from closets tossed on the floor with other upset bric-a-brac. Missing was Eve’s collection of composition books she kept her journal in. Eve had been a diarist all her life and Frazetta promised once they were examined by the FBI he would make sure they were returned to Adam. But as Adam looked at the empty book shelf in her bedroom closet, he felt her life and memory had been violated.

Adam filled a single cardboard box with precious remains of Eve’s life. He would send the box to his home once he taped and labeled it. As he stood in the sunny kitchen, he suddenly had the urge to toilet. It was after he finished and washed his hands that he saw a receipt in the waste basket among several discarded pads. The scrap of paper was for the purchase of a wig and wig stand from “Robbin’s Salon”

After Adam said his goodbye to his old friend at the airport he flew a Pan Am to Amsterdam. But, instead of returning home he called a friend and asked her to watch his apartment. He told her and the University he was going hitch around Europe to get his ‘head straight’. He then bought tickets back to Heathrow paying cash. Before he left for England he stopped by a little shop run by a disreputable former member of the Dutch resistance his father knew where he paid cash American for the MAC10 and the Walther along with ammunition. He flew to England and after a stop-over in Canada he returned to America and immediately went to the salon. The owner, the sister of the Nurse Robbins, Eve mentioned in her calls admitted Eve bought the wig for a girl she identified as a student. But, she did not know anything else. It was the picture on the wall that became an important clue to where the vampire had gone to and although it took several months of searching, Adam ended up on a chair facing a door. 

Hidden by window shades, the day drifted lazily along. The morning’s solitude was first broken by music that vibrated up through the floor from the bar below. Then the street woke up for the culmination of the Mardi-Gras festivities with loud band music, squeals and sounds of fireworks bursting into the deepening night. Adam had no idea what time the apartment’s denizens would return and he steeled himself for the possibility they wouldn’t arrive until morning. No matter, he would kill the vampire and anyone who stood in his way. 

It was well after one o’clock in the morning when Adam heard the sound of someone moving on the porch. He stood up and pointed the weapon at the door holding it steady with its stock jammed into his ribs, his right hand curled around the grip, finger on the trigger and left hand gripping the suppressor to hold the weapon steady. The sound of a key in the lock was followed by the door knob being turned. Adam focused his attention on widening crack that brought with it light from a street lamp and a figure’s shadow. Suddenly a young girl’s voice called out. 

“Adam Van Helsing, don’t shoot. You will only kill the old man.” 

“I resemble that remark” replied the figure at the door. 

Adam inhaled as he started to tighten his finger and release the storm of bullets. The steel jacketed slugs would easily pass through the door and the old man on their way to the monster.

“This is for Eve” he called out.

“Do you want to know how your sister died?” asked the young voice.

“You killed her”

“I did not kill Doctor Eve. But, if you shoot you will never know what happened. Your vengeance is with me. Doesn’t your Lord say its’ an abomination to kill the innocent?” she asked. Adam hesitated.

“Ok, I’ll give you more than you gave her. But if you or your minion try anything I will kill you where you stand.” 

“Thank you Adam Van Helsing, I’m coming in. Pend, if you want you can go downstairs.” 

“No young lady, I’ll see this through. I told my niece I will take care of you and I keep my word.” The old man replied as he opened the door and entered the kitchen followed by the young girl.

“That’s far enough”

“It is a bit dark in here can I put on a light?” Pend asked. Adam responded by turning the switch of the floor lamp on. The kitchen was flooded with the unshielded light and Pend blinked his watery rheumy eyes as the vampire stood next to him. She gazed intently at Adam who noticed her neck was festooned with colorful rows of shiny beads. 

“I like the mirror glasses. I’m sure you were told they would prevent me from bewitching you.”

“Like you bewitched my sister and this doddering old fool”

“I may be old and doddering. But, I’m no fool.” grumbled Pend.

“It doesn’t work that way Adam Van Helsing. I can cloud thoughts and I can see into a human’s soul. But, I can’t change minds. I admit, I used use my abilities when I first met your sister. Wouldn’t you? But, she was my friend and I did not control her.” 

“Then why wouldn’t she talk to me if she wasn’t under your spell. You kept her prisoner until you killed her.”

“Doctor Eve wanted to tell you she took me in. But, she couldn’t. She believed you informed the Order of Apes everything she told you.” 

“Little dawlin, its pronounced ‘Ah..pes’ not ‘Apes’. Its Latin for...”

“Bees, I know Pend. I was thinking of that astronaut in the movie who has to live among talking apes and can’t go home.” The she said to her companion with a solemn look before she turned to face Adam. 

“Doctor Eve was afraid you would tell Frazetta.”

“That’s not true. I would not have…” Adam stopped. Was the vampire trying to put him off guard so she could attack? He raised the gun’s muzzle even with her chest. 

“May I take off this wig? It isn’t comfortable.” Then without waiting for his answer the teenager unpinned the Afro and carefully laid it on the table.

“You know littile dawlin, your hair has grown out quite a bit. You don’t need to wear the wig anymore, unless you want to.” Ella nodded and started to pull the poncho over her head.

“Don’t test me.” Adam protested.

“I’m sorry Adam Van Helsing, it is a bit warm wearing this poncho.” she replied removing the garment. Underneath she wore a blood red halter top, with tightly fitting cut off denims and red sneakers. 

“What lies are you going to tell me about my sister? I saw the pictures, I know you killed her.” 

“You can believe me or not. But I did not hold your sister. She helped me because we were friends. When I made my mistake, I went to her. Doctor Eve took care of me and it was her idea to get me the wig from the shop Nurse Robbin’s cousin owns to cover my head. She said she was a teacher and I was a student whose head was shaved because of head lice. Pend was there and he knew we were lying. He invited us back and with Nurse Robbins there, we well Doctor Eve had dinner with them. “

“I’m sure you had dinner too. There are plenty of necks to open.” 

“I need sustenance. Buy it doesn’t mean I have to take a life. I can go to a farm or one of your Blood Banks, when I need to… feed. Anyway, I left the receipt for you to find after Eve’s home was searched. You are here because you went to the salon, and even though no one told I was with her uncle, you as Sherlock Holmes would say… deduced it from the picture of Pend, his daughter keeps on the wall. You probably noticed when you arrived the theater in the picture is just down the street. Still it took you long enough to find me.”

“You have to give the young man credit. He’s too white to be good at hiding in the Big Easy. But, he did find us.” 

“That’s true Pend. He does stick out even during Mardi-Gras. “

“Enough… Tell me your story. How did my sister die, if you didn’t kill her?”

“It was my fault she died. I stayed with Doctor Eve for weeks. We,… I mean I didn’t know we were being watched at first. I was too busy celebrating my freedom. When we realized the Order knew I was with your sister, we, that is Doctor Eve decided to find a safe place for me to stay. A place the Order wouldn’t find me. When we left the house to meet Pend, Doctor Eve was killed by a sniper who was trying to hit me.”

“That’s a lie… you almost tore her head off.” Adam blurted with tear filled eyes. 

“I can’t change what happened. But, it wasn’t me who killed Doctor Eve or mutilated her body.” The young girl paused and looked at the distraught brother of her friend. 

“Well Pend, it’s time for you and me to leave” 

“This is for Eve” Adam cried as he tightened his finger on the trigger. The weapon instantly kicked and violently shook accompanied by the sound or rattling as it emptied a spray of death. Everything in front of Adam exploded as slugs tore through the door, the window, the wall, the young girl and old man. A second later, the gun was spent. The riddled bloody bodies of the vampire and her companion laid dead. Their forms twisted on the kitchen floor as blood slowly oozed over its checkered linoleum tiles. Adam walked to stand over them, ready to pump a few bullets from his PPK if there was any movement. He tasted the acrid sour smell of the MAC’s wrath and knew he didn’t have to. He avenged his sister. Her murderer was dead. Yet as he stared down at the corpse of the young girl he felt empty, nothing about his loss was changed by her death. 

“When we lose someone we love, we can’t fill the loss with anger.” Ella said with soft eyes. 

Adam looked about. The bodies and bullet holes were gone as well as the old man. Adam was still sitting in the chair. He never left it and the MAC was cold on his lap.

“I thought, if you could kill me, you would feel… better. It wouldn’t bring Doctor Eve back. But, I hoped seeing me die would bring closure to your heart. I owed her that.”

Adam couldn’t speak and his hands were frozen around the MAC 10. He glanced down and at his feet the bullets from its two clips and his PPK revolver were scattered about like so many puzzle pieces. 

‘You will regain your speech and will soon be able to get up after I leave. Whether you decide to believe me or the Order is up to you. But, look in the top drawer of the bureau and you will find your sister’s last journal, the one she started after her car was broken into. And please do me a favor; some of the books on the bed are borrowed from the library. Could you return them?” 

The young teen smiled and turned as she walked through the kitchen to the open door. As she did Adam could not see her wings. Ella stepped on the porch and turned to face him once more. Suddenly the wings burst open. 

“I wish you peace Adam Van Helsing. Although, I don’t think you’ll find it with an easy journey. This will be the last time you will see Ella. The next time we meet, I will be Vampirella.” The young girl smiled and disappeared into the night with a swift push. 

Adam almost immediately regained the use of his limbs but it was too late, she was gone. But, someplace on Bourbon Street among all the partygoers staggering home a young woman whose friend had vomited on curb looked up to avoid seeing the mess.

“Oh my God, I’m really tripping is that an Angel flying in front of the moon?”

“Nah,” said her date “It just a bat”. 

-30-


End file.
